Broken Mirror Reflecting: The Original
by 3 Sisters of Moon-Shadow-Sun
Summary: AU!SI!Rewritten! The soul assigned to be reincarnated as Kasumi is unable, and a twenty something female otaku is sent in its place. Knowing the events and people to come, she waits to see what the future brings while trying to forget the past.
1. Silver Forest

**Broken Mirror Reflecting  
By: **_Shadow/Li_

Disclaimer: I don't own any anime, only the plot ideas.

Summary: The spirit to be reincarnated as Tendo Kasumi turns out to be unavailable when it is called, so another is sent in her place. This soul, however, remembers everything of it's many past lives, a female otaku in the most recent. Armed with the knowledge of what the future of Nerima holds, she begins to plan for the future while trying to forget something in the past.

A/N: I plan to turn this into a mega crossover, but nothing major. Characters from other series many appear and have a part, but that's kind of the pointof this fanfiction. Pairings will be discussed in future chapters, and so will what animes will be included in BMR.

Enjoy the story!

-0-0--0-0-

_Chapter One: Silver Forest_

-0-0--0-0-

In an old, old part of a deserted town, in a run down warehouse not far from the coast, a corpse could be found. It was the body of a young woman of unknown origin, mostly because of the bruises to her face and the diterioration of tissue. One could see her, however, if one was attune to the spiritual plane.

In her unisex soul form, she had longish transparent hair and an average face, undescriptive save for the only color on her astral person: piercing blue eyes.

She remembered not how her living self had come to be here, or her name or past before death. All she could bring to mind was the endlessness of her time in the warehouse and something called the 'Internet' and computers.

No one had yet to come for her soul, or a living being. That is, until _**he**_ began to appear at random times. He being in front of her at that very moment.

He started out as a nice enough fellow, if a bit too enthusiastic. But then he asked questions, excepting her to know the answers when she didn't. Like her previous name, who she wanted to be reincarnated as, etc...

This time, instead of his usual casual smirk, he wore a half grim, half grinning expression. Unlike her, though, he was in full color; fluorescent color. Short, pale hair cut to be longer in the front than the back, always perfect, and bright eyesof undeterminable color alight with wonder.

"I've talked to some friends of mine, sister, and they made an offer," stated the spirit. He had yet to give his name.

Maybe his curiousity was rubbing off on her, but she just couldn't resist, though skeptical. "What kind of offer?"

The spirit's grin widened as he regarded her, as if sharing a private joke with himself mentally. "The kind of deal that will give you both your body and your memories back."

"Mine is unusable," she pointed out, still untrusting of the stranger. "And if I agree, what is the cost?" For some unknown reason, she seemed to know how to handle this type of situation easily all of a sudden.

The multicolored man regarded her for a moment, face blank, before breaking out into a wide grin. "I knew you were just what we need!" He clutched her shoulder in a friendly manner, grip surprisingly solid. "Now, here's the deal..."

He explained to her that a body in another dimension needed a host spirit since the one for it had been captured and therefore unable. This person, a Japanese female to have two sisters, was an important member of the Larger Plan, which would otherwise destroy their universe if she simply didn't exist. Of course, with him having a counter argument for every point she brought up, it felt right to except.

"I agree, then," she said after a great deal of thought. "I just hope I may help in this other world you have described to me."

"Oh, you will," the astral figure said, smiling a mysterious smile. "All you need now is to go there. Your new identity is waiting."

He finally released her shoulder and pulled a bag of sand from somewhere within his eye blinding jacket, and blew a pinch in the transparent girl's face. She suddenly felt very sleepy, as if she'd been hypnotized.

She saw him pull out two objects, both jewelry, with hooded eyes; one, a western dragon necklace with curved horns and a pointed snout. The other, a small piece of metal used as an earring, designed with Celtic wave symbols. He placed both in her hand, closing her fingers gently around them.

"Use these well: the necklace for protection, and the earring for focus." He smiled at her, face fading as her vision blackened.

"Remember, even in chaos there is order. Have fun in Nerima, Tendo Kasumi-san." Her jaw unhinged in shock, though vision almost consumed by darkness.

Her last sight was of the mangled body of her former identity. Then she dreamed of comforting warmth.

-0-0--0-0-

Let me tell you, readers, that it is never a good decision to trust someone so annoying when they offer change out of the blue. Sure, I remember everything from my life, and the one before that... and the one before that... _and_ the one before that (you get the idea), but I also felt everything all at once. Needless to say, I hardly remember what happened time after that.

When I came to, though, it was to what can only be called the 'light at the end f the tunnel'. But in reality, Tendo Kasumi's body was just being born. I, unsurprisingly, had the overwhelming urge to cry, and did so. My new mother, Tendo Soun's wife, held me after the midwife was done checking the baby body over. I was starting to regret agreeing to this even more.

How was I, an only child, going to handle two sisters and a depressed father when oka-sama (I decided to call her that for no apparent reason) died? I couldn't even take proper care of my step-dad's pig, even though she depended on me only for food. And another mother?

The only reason I was dead was because that naive best friend of mine, affectionately called Bijin, decided to give her mob-related boyfriend another chance. I, having just graduated from college and rooming with her while she completed a last term, went along and ended up getting beaten and shot. It bloody well hurt, too!

I'm angry, annoyed, confused, sleepy, and ranting at people who did nothing but join me in my new adventure. I'll apologize when I feel better.

It was nice being cooed over for a change. Mother was smiling tiredly and holding my body tenderly. Soun was crying, ranting on about how lucky he was to have such a beautiful wife and child. And here I thought he'd only turned crybaby after the death of his beloved.

"What a beautiful girl she'll grow up to be," commented my mother.

"Our little heiress," cooed my father. He was immediately backhanded by his wife. I guess aggression ran in the Tendo females, all except me. I really don't know how I'm going to have the innocence and obliviousness that series Kasumi had.

What did her spirit do, anyway?

"Our little princess," father corrected himself. Oka-sama smiled in approval. I personally wondered when they would begin to spoil me, and if my new self would like it.

Sure, I would always be the core me, but with my child's mind my personality would develop according to the environment I was raised in. Kind of like planting seeds (what your born with) and nurturing them until they become whatever they do. At least I'm flexible and can adapt easily. I can make Soun and oka-sama's first experience with a child a bit easier, too.

Did I mention I'm more like Nabiki than Kasumi? Kami help Nerima. I may turn the place upside-down even before Ranma and the rest arrive.

I was so tired and content in my mother's arms, I fell asleep right then and there. Needless to say, I was set for the moment.

-0-0--0-0-

Being a baby is hard. I gave into my crying urges more often than not. Though I must say, by the time I could walk I was potty trained. Mother bragged to her friends, and so did father. He wanted to begin me in martial arts at one and a half, but Oka-sama persuaded him otherwise. (I could never hurt anyone like she could. I wasn't made that way, unless a serious need arose, and even then not consciously.)

Everything was perfect, until Soun decided to go on his first training trip in over five years. Though his wife opposed it, she eventually yielded. I was surprised to learn there were many students learning Anything Goes, and that they helped each other when their master was gone.

When I walked in with mother to see myfather and his current apprentice (a special one wanting to broaden his horizons), Father gave a teary goodbye. I didn't cry, just gooed at him cutely and got my message to come back soon to his family across.

As their backs turned into dots in the horizon (dramatic as Ranmaverse standard), the students bowed to them as one. It inspired a sad smile to my mother's lips.

She said to me, "Never marry a martial artist. They'll love their sport more than they would you." I took her words to heart.

Truly, I had no intention of finding anyone here. In all my past lives that I could remember, I either got dumped early on, was murdered by my husband, or otherwise perished in a way related to those I loved. Not to mention there was always three people of the same gender, and one of the opposite involved.

I stayed in the dojo and watched the twenty or so students practice with fascination. Reading and seeing were entirely two different things, I decided. It was much more amazing to be up close, with a chance to learn just as those you observed were than to sit at home and read out of a manga or watch anime.

The youngest student, a scrawny nine or ten year old who loved more geeky than anything else (I have nothing against them, really. I was one.), approached me after going through a series of kata. His belt said midlevel, so I assumed he had been bullied and was now trying hard to get stronger to protect himself.

He bowed politely before speaking. "Tendo-sama," he addressed me.

"Goo." Translation: What the Heck! (I've always tried to reframe from swearing if not truly upsetting.)

I seriously have no idea what Japanese babies said. I was American, the last time around. An otaku in love with Ranma and the like, too. (The manga, not the person.)

"I wish you good luck in the future." I wasn't sure what he said next, but it appeared to be a blessing in Chinese. I really need to learn that language, since I already knew English, American, Latin, Ancient Greek (Roman variation as well) and a few others not so fluently.

Then the boy, who I later found out was named Li Mein, continued his dojo chores. The rest of the practicers either didn't notice me or just ignored the baby and went about their business.

Mother found me soon after that, and took me to the living room and dressed me up in cute baby clothes that I soon grew out of in the next two weeks. She was pregnant again, though, and Nabiki would be able to wear them next.

Life wasn't interesting at the Tendo School, not since father was gone and mother took care of me as the students did themselves. I did wonder, however, how I would do in school. But that was years away; I had plenty of time.

Oh, did you know that Kasumi had a photographic memory? Who would've thought? And since she had it, so do I. Or maybe it's just a side effect of being a grown woman trapped in a baby's mind.

Whoknows? I certainly don't.

-0-0--0-0-

Tendo Kumiko was worried for her baby. Not the one currently kicking in her stomach like pangs of hunger, but her darling eldest, Kasumi. The 22 month old had yet to say anything other than the occasional baby babble, but even that was beginning to become rare.

Kasumi became expressive in other ways, however. When she wanted a story, she'd pick up a book and waving it right under her mother's nose. When hungry, she'd wait patiently in the kitchen for something to eat. If she became upset or offended, which wasn't often, she'd sit in a corner quietly and sulk.

Soun noticed nothing wrong, and somehow always got a smile out of his favorite daughter no matter what he did. She giggled with him, her mother, and some of the students who actually played with her and found her silence natural, not unusual.

If she had something to say, she'd speak up, right? Kumiko wasn't so sure.

Unlike what her mother thought, Kasumi just wasn't used to speaking Japanese. She would also follow her mother around almost anywhere, even to bathe, wanting to have stories to tell Akane when she asked in the future. The child knew everything about her mother, including oka-sama's well-hidden secret hobby.

Kumiko practiced the occult.

It was a big deal to have a woman practicer, since most were men. But she'd learned from one of the best monks, and Kasumi learned from just watching. (Photographic memory, remember? I also always remember everything said to me, if important.)

This time, when she went to the secret room within Akane's future bedroom, still eastern style, oka-sama tried to see why I would not speak. She came out with only a vague answer: I wasn't ready yet. Discouraged from approaching the subject publicly, Kumiko resigned herself to the facts.

Around my second birthday, in the fall, oka-sama hit six months of pregnancy. Three more and my sister, Nabiki, would be born. I couldn't wait see what she was like as a kid.

Yet, already I noticed that I acted more and more like Kasumi. Sure, I was more assertive, and would most likely be just as out-going in a subtle, hinting way when I got older --again.

I wondered, passingly, if there were any other anime from my former world here. I could be surrounded by all those possibilities and not even be aware. But now, I know, was the time to focus on my new family, and maybe later on other places and people.

It was interesting, though, that I never got the name of the one who sent me here.

-0-0--0-0-

A/N: Interested in the story? Hopefully! I'll try to have another chapter up in a week or so, though I don't promise anything.

_Sister Shadow/Li_


	2. The First Sister

**Broken Mirror Reflecting  
By: **_Shadow/Li_

Disclaimer: I don't own any anime, only the plot ideas. And a few OC.

Summary: The spirit to be reincarnated as Tendo Kasumi turns out to be unavailable when it is called, so another is sent in her place. This soul, however, remembers everything of it's many past lives, a female otaku in the most recent. Armed with the knowledge of what the future of Nerima holds, she begins to plan for the future while trying to forget something in the past.

A/N: In this chapter, there will be an original character. Not many stories that have an original plot don't have at least one, so I'm adding my own. Don't be put off by her; she'll play a semi-important part in future chapters.

Enjoy the story!

-0-0- -0-0-

_Chapter Two: The First Sister_

-0-0- -0-0-

Otou-sama returned from his training trip ten days before my second birthday. He immediately did everything he could for his pregnant wife and myself, crying all the while. I was happy enough to just toddle over to the dojo and watch the students practice like I always do as oka-sama and otou-sama caught up.

In secret for the past eight months, I'd begun teaching myself to walk again. It was surprisingly hard to relearn such a basic skill, but at least I could walk a few yards without tripping, falling, or otherwise using something as a crutch. In front of others, though I tried to be as average a baby as possible.

Otou-sama saw me sitting comfortably on a random mat, staring with what I guess was as much of a look of concentration on my face as any baby could have. Crying tears of what I supposed was joy (his fits were beginning to get annoying again after the long time apart) and cradled me in his arms. I stayed very still, frightened that he might accidentally hurt me if I moved; he was so overcome by emotion.

"Oh, Kumiko-chan! Kumiko-chan!" sobbed my oh-so-darling father, finally setting me down. On a chair no less. I wasn't going anywhere, that's for sure. "Something wonderful has happened!"

"What, dear?" oka-sama asked from the kitchen. Even seven months pregnant and she insisted on continuing to cook. I have long since known where the original Kasumi come about her love of the culinary arts, and Akane her stubbornness.

"Kasumi-chan," began otou-sama, "has shown an interest in martial arts! To satisfy my darling daughter's needs, I must begin training her right away!"

Oka-sama entered the room, spatula in hand looking more like a dangerous weapon than a cooking utensil. I could feel her anger, and I imagine otou-sama did too, since he'd begun to cower away from the dark haired woman.

Why such a wonderful woman like my new mother married the spineless Soun in the first place is a question I plan to ask in the future. Probably love, or an arranged marriage, are my main theories.

Most likely love. People do a lot of stupid and moronic things when they're in love, don't I know. In my past lives, I've been one of them. Usually at the opposite end, though, which I've found to be quite annoying.

"We've spoken about this, husband," said oka-sama with forced calm. I don't think she wanted to have a (mostly one-sided) fight with him when he'd just come home. "Kasumi will decide for herself when she's older. The same goes for any of our other children." She patted her stomach fondly, and I imagine Nabiki kicked in return.

"But, my dear, I was only ten when my first Master began my training. If I'd begun sooner-"

Oka-sama cut him off. "Kami-sama, Kasumi's not even two!"

"Exactly," said otou-sama, this time with more conviction and a lot less tears. "The younger she is, the more she's likely to retain later in life. Think of it, Kumiko! Our little girl will be strong! And it makes a father proud to think of it."

Mother was silent for some minutes, and I knew she was likely to give in at least a little. True as it is that I'm interested in martial arts and the like, I don't want to hurt anyone, and neither would my Kasumi.

"Fine, dear," oka-sama said. Soun burst into tears of happiness. "She shall begin instruction at three."

I don't think otou-sama heard her last part as he picked me up and settled me on his shoulders, hands firmly in place to keep me from falling. "Let's go pick out a cute training outfit, Kasumi-chan!" my father said proudly, smiling.

Oka-sama came running after us, spatula dropped in favor of a mallet similar to what Akane would wield in the future. Maybe she'd inherit mother's ability to access hammerspace, or just the mallet.

Probably just the mallet, I decided as Kumiko chased after her husband and me.

I did what any other otaku-reincarnated-anime-character would do in my current situation; I laughed.

-0-0- -0-0-

My first birthday had been a quiet affair. My clumsy fingers hadn't opened any packages, since oka-sama had left all but one gift unwrapped. The gift had been from my obaa-sama and ojou-sama, Kumiko's parents. Otou-sama rarely spoke of his, and never in my presence.

My second birthday, however, was anything but peaceful. All students, friends, acquaintance and even a few strangers had been invited. The dojo-turned-party hall filled with people I've never seen before, let alone heard my parents speak of. I thanked my photographic memory that I forgot no name or face introduced to me.

Dressed up like a doll, I sat on a raised platform tall enough to put me face to face with a six foot (I bit less than 2 meter) tall man. I tried my best to keep from fidgeting, but to no avail. And to think that this had been oka-sama's suggestion.

"Isn't this a little much?" mother asked father, who had drunk just a bit too much sake.

"No, no, my dear. Everyone seems to be enjoying themselves," otou-sama slurred. He was an unusually calm drunk, far from his normal sobbing self. "It's so wonderful that all these people are celebrating Kasumi-chan' birthday!" He broke out into sobs.

Alright, so maybe not. But it was better than his personally waterfalls falling all over me.

"If you say so, dear," oka-sama replied, smiling thinly at the crowd. With only two months until Nabiki was due (in the middle of February no less), Kumiko was having frequent mood swings. I think today was one of her good days, since yesterday her temper had been set off by the slightest thing.

"Ah, Soun, my friend. It's been too long," said an unfamiliar voice belonging to a too familiar face. Standing not ten feet from her platform was Saotome Genma, outfit the same white gi and a bandanna a top his already-balding head. Standing to his left, two steps behind, was a rather attractive, quiet and yet unnoticed woman holding a cloth-wrapped katana tightly.

"Genma, old pal. So it has, so it has," cried otou-sama, giving the yet-to-be-cursed man a friendly pat on the back.

I truly detested that man, and I am not someone to dislike on sight, or otherwise. But what I knew he would to was enough of an excuse for me. I suddenly felt an overwhelming sense of sympathy for Ranma, Ukyo, and anyone else yet to cross that dastardly man's path.

The two Anything Goes practicer's made idle chat about training and happenings while apart.; I saw immediately how uncomfortable Nodoka-san was , but a baby could do nothing to help her. I knew oka-sama could, however.

I tugged on my mother's sleeve to draw her attention, and opened my arms in a gesture to be picked up. Kumiko, smiling happily for the first time in a long while, held me close..

It turned out that Nodoka-san was watching us with what I took as longing, which my mother noticed as well. A mother always recognizedly a lover of children, I have grown to know.

"My name is Tendo Kumiko, and this is my daughter, Kasumi," oka-sama introduced us. I made this cute little giggling sound that always made my mother laugh, and it succeeded in winning a smile from Genma's guest.

"I'm Kamiyo Nodoka. It's a pleasure to meet you." Ranma's oka-san bowed politely, something Kumiko was unable to do since she was holding me and pregnant. "I must say, Kasumi-chan is an adorable little girl." She poked me shyly in the stomach and I giggled for her again.

"Why thank you, Kamiyo-san. Are you a friend of Saotome-san?" asked oka-sama, shifting me gentling to a more comfortable spot.

"Fiance, actually," Nodoka-san almost stuttered. I truly felt sorry for the poor woman, but at least I know she'll be stronger in the end. Or maybe she just didn't like drunk, overwhelmingly crowds. "Our fathers' arranged it."

The women and I were distracted from further conversation by the drunken chatter of Soun and Genma. What they were discussing was more jolting than anything else I'd reluctantly eavesdropped upon.

"We promised, right?" Soun asked his friend, swaying.

"Yes. You signed, and I signed, the other day." The future panda-man hiccuped, cheeks rosy from too much drink.

"It's settled then," the former agreed, and raised his glass in toast. "To the engagement! Banzai!"

"Banzai!" said half the room. I doubt to an outsider this would look like a two year olds' birthday party. More like a wedding celebration, or a child's sweet sixteen.

I didn't think for a moment that the engagement the drunks spoke of was between Genma and Nodoka-san.

"What engagement?" oka-sama demanded, as did Nodoka-san, coming out of her shell just a bit.

"To join our families," Genma slurred, hugging his Fiance tightly. "One of our children will marry Soun's kid."

The mallet and sword pounding what ensued I know both men wouldn't feel until morning. Both were too passed out to care. I doubt their hangovers would help much, either.

I'm both happy and sad that mother and Nodoka-san got along so well. I knew she would be gone for good in just over five or six years, sometime when Akane was still too young to remember. Kamiyo-san would be hurt badly, and I made another promise to myself.

I'll try my best to make everyone happy, even if that included people I'm not inclined to like.

-0-0- -0-0-

In the beginning of January, oka-sama hardly left her room. She was too pregnant, otou-sama said, and any undue stress might hurt herself or the baby. Kumiko agreed with him for only a short time.

When I say _her room_, I mean the guest room containing the secret altar, mini-library on the occult, and various other items needed to cast spells and preform rituals. I mostly stayed away from that room, remembering how such things had resulted in being both burned at the stake and beheaded in my previous lives.

I keep mentioning my previous lives, don't I? Well, I have only the memories of my last ten or so, up until the age I died in my last incarnation. The rest are just facts that need a trigger to remember.

In the dojo, as usual, I watched the older students sparring and the newer learning katas. Oka-sama entered and took me away to spend some quality time bonding. (Bonding has become more constant the last few weeks.) No one but the Chinese boy Li Mein, who'd been kind to me in the past, noticed and he had chores to distract him.

Oka-sama spoke to me as we climbed the stairs to the second floor of the main house. "I'm going to teach you something very important, Kasumi-chan. Your father's not the only one with a school to train and heir for."

I didn't know precisely what she was talking about until we turned into the hallway leading to Akane's future room. Then I began to panic and though I squirmed in my mother's arms to be let down, she only held tighter.

"And now with that silly engagement he and that moronic friend of his enacted, I have to start early. I can't have my successor marrying a marital artist. The first born female always inherits the most powers, after all," murmured oka-sama, unaware I listened and understood.

My heart stopped and my blood froze. First born female? Heir to a school of occult? The next thing she'll say is that we're descended from some great sorcerer like master Aiden or something.

Just to say, I'm very grateful that the laws of Nerima and that pessimistic man Murphy haven't yet applied themselves to me. Come to think of it, the never did for cannon Kasumi either. I so hope they never do.

We entered the guest room and oka-sama headed straight for the section of wall that I somehow knew as an illusion, and could see through. Huh. It was such a shock, I( ceased my struggling and stayed completely still.

I've been a farmer, a hunter, an apprentice sage, silver smith, a low level librarian at Alexandria killed in the Great Burning, and many other things. I have received empathic powers, skills in arts, mathematics, science, animal care, and many other things in the lives I remember, but never held an active power.

"Now, Kasumi-chan, I need you to stay very, very still," instructed oka-sama, heaving herself onto a sturdy stool that sat before the altar after setting me down. "Understand?"

I nodded absently and forced myself to pay attention.

Oka-sama started as I had a long time ago, but ended in a different way. I won't describe anything, since words can not explain such things. What caught my attention, however, was her prayer/spell spoken near the middle.

"Oh Gods, you have given me an heir of intelligence and gentleness. I wish now, if you so will, for a child of cunning and power, to please my most honorable husband. If you so please, Oh Gods, thus shall it be." Kumiko bowed awkwardly.

An intelligent and gentle daughter? From what I've read and seen in the anime and manga, Tendo Kasumi had been just that, though under appreciated by her self centered family.

'_I'll do my best to fulfill your wishes, oka-sama. It's that least I can do for agreeing to take your true daughter's place,_' I thought.

I suddenly had a feeling inside my mind that whatever Gods listening had heard my thought and bound me to it. I knew now that my life would begin to get much more interesting very soon.

Kumiko picked me up and carried me to our room, and I was suddenly hit my a wave of tiredness. Oka-sama and otou-sama shared a futon, and I slept in a high quality crib on the other side of the room.

As oka-sama tucked me into my many blankets and stuffed animals (my favorite being a huge -to me- stuffed black dog someone had given me for my birthday) I heard her whisper, "When you grow up, Kasumi-chan, I wish you'd help everyone you can. I have a feeling a little kindness will go a long way in the future."

I fell asleep clutching Kurei the black dog, and pondering her words.

-0-0- -0-0-

Tendo Nabiki was born February 11, year unknown to me. I finally had a cute baby sister, even if she looked more like a fox as a new born than she did at seventeen.

Oka-sama had been lounging in the kitchen, enjoying a nice cup of tea, as otou-sama once again tried to convince her to let him begin my training early. I don't know what he was thinking, trying to reason with a woman who had too many mood swings.

Wonder of wonders, she was just about to mallet him in the ground when her water broke. Immediately Soun went rushing around and eventually we got to the hospital in time, though I don't remember how.

"Ah, my wife has blessed me with another beautiful girl! Isn't she cute, Kasumi-chan?" otou-sama asked me as I stared at the babe in my mother's arms. My baby sister.

Sister. Imotou-san. I now had a sister. Oh, Kami-sama! I had a sister!

"What shall we call our wonderful second child, dear?" asked oka-sama. "Ayame and Iyo are cute names."

"Tendo Nabiki," suggested my father. I continued to stare at the new born, asleep in oka-sama's breast, only half listening to their conversation.

"That's a nice name, husband. Nabiki-chan it is," concluded mother, then spoke to me. "You'll have to be a good 'nee-chan and care for your little sister, ok? Kasumi-chan?"

I nodded, still stubbornly silent until I knew the time was right to speak, and grinned big. My teeth were coming in nicely so far, and they had yet to bother me even a little.

"Congratulations," said a random nurse, smiling at our little family.

"Thank you," Kumiko said tiredly. I knew she would want to sleep after an twelve hour delivery. "You want to take her now?"

"Please, if you don't mind," said the nurse nervously. "We need to check her over."

"Alright," oka-sama said, handing Nabiki-chan over to the woman and laying comfortably in the hospital bed.

"It would be a good idea for you to allow you wife to rest, Tendo-san. She must be very tired," suggested the nurse to otou-sama.

"Excellent idea. Kasumi-chan, let's wait in the lobby," said otou-sama. I followed reluctantly, wanting to sigh sadly as I took one last look at my peacefully sleeping mother. The nurse held Nabiki gently, and I knew they'd both be in good care.

-0-0- -0-0-

If I was older, I'm sure my eyebrow would be twitching in irritation and an angry aura would surround me as I glared at anyone and everything that I could see. As I am only a little passed two, I settled at sitting innocently in the maternity ward's lobby as otou-sama snored loudly, taking up three chairs.

Various nurses working the late shift pointed and giggled behind their hands at my father, finding him unusually amusing. I clutched Kurei to me tighter. I never liked being small and ignored, though it did come in handy sometimes.

Like now.

Unnoticed and bored, I decided to explore the hospital. There was nothing else to do but sit around and wait for father to take us home so oka-sama could rest here.

It was surprisingly easy to walk around, though I noticed too much bleached white for my tastes. The hospitals I'd stayed at in my last life had had a few murals here and there, just to add some color. I would think it'd be unhealthy to be around so much blankness all the time.

I stopped my explorations as soon as I came to the children's ward. Now this place was more like it. The walls were a pale yellow, but it still qualified as a color, and the doors themselves different, vibratant colors. It also looked as if some of the younger children fingered painted at their level regularly.

I usually wasn't one to like anything that I'd call an eyesore (which was most of the rainbow), but being around so much white, it was more a relief than a nuisance to see so much color.

As I walked down the hall, clutching Kurei the Dog so he didn't drag on the ground, I stopped at a particularly neon door when a little girl, maybe three or four, came up to me and just started talking. I've had this happen to me before, of course (who hasn't), but never been approached by someone so young.

"Are you new here? I am. My name's Mio, what's yours? What are you here for? I'm here for something called- oh, I forgot! But I know it has something to do with blood, though. That's a cute dog. Where'd you get it? Are you lost? Are you looking for the bathroom? 'Cause I know where it is. What did you say your name was?" the strange, pale haired girl babbled.

I hadn't yet talked as Kasumi, and I wasn't going to say anything without oka-sama or otou-sama present. I did, however, move Kurei a little and point to the hiragana of my name sewn into my light blue dress. (Kumiko had given up on the frills and lace. Poor Nabiki would have to put up with it mother's obsession with cuteness now.)

"Ka-su-mi," Mio read slowly. "Kasumi. I like that name. How did you get it? My ka-chan named me after her favorite character in a book. I don't know the tittle."

I tuned out her rambling and instead took the chance to look her over. She had shoulder length, pale hair that seemed white, and equally pale skin. Her eyes were almond shaped, the irises dark brown, almost black. She was dressed in the blue hospital gown, a necklace tucked under it so I couldn't see. All in all, I knew she's grow up to be quite pretty, in a pale sort of way.

I was thankful when the nurse assigned to Mio came and apologized for her, then took the still babbling child back to her room. I found my way back to the maternity ward, still unnoticed, and fell asleep next to my still snoring father.

My thoughts, however, were on Nabiki and the strange girl Mio-san, whom I left drawn to, in a sense. Maybe we could be friends, I hoped. Even if she was annoying, I knew I needed outside contact. I hadn't realized how desperately I needed human contacted besides my family until to day.

I wonder, though. How will Nabiki act, growing up?

-0-0- -0-0-

A/N: Thank you all for reading, and review only if you want to! I don't like pressuring people, as you'll find out.

'Til the next chapter!  
_Sister Shadow/Li_


	3. Spirit Sent, and Family

**Broken Mirror Reflecting  
By: **_Shadow/Li_

Disclaimer: I don't own any anime, only the plot ideas. And a few OC.

Summary: The spirit to be reincarnated as Tendo Kasumi turns out to be unavailable when it is called, so another is sent in her place. This soul, however, remembers everything of it's many past lives, a female otaku in the most recent. Armed with the knowledge of what the future of Nerima holds, she begins to plan for the future while trying to forget something in the past.

A/N: This story, as I said before, will be a mega crossover with characters from other anime making excepted and unnecessary appearances in later chapters. This is your second warning, and there will only be one more.

Also, I am writing this story because I had an idea and I wanted to share it with others. If you don't like something, I won't change it. Don't bother flaming, if you want to. I ignore them. Corrective criticism is appreciated, though, so if I am either misinforming you about something, or have made a mistake, I thank you if you would tell me.

This is getting rather long, so I'll leave you to read this new installment.

-0-0- -0-0-

_Chapter Three: Spirit Sent, and Family_

-0-0- -0-0-

Tendo Kumiko was tired; exhausted even. Her husband Soun was teaching in the dojo, her first child Kasumi was watching, leaving her to look after Nabiki, her second daughter.

"Rest is what I need," Kumiko muttered to herself, sighing. She slumped back in her chair and slung an arm over her eyes, making everything go dark. It was easier to muse with your eyes closed, at least for her.

Nabiki was a high maintenance, strong willed baby. She demanded what she wanted, when she wanted it from both her mother and her father. Not just that, she was fussy. Kumiko didn't know what she would do when Nabi-chan was weaned and could eat solid food. The dark haired woman had a feeling that her daughter would be even pickier than a food critic when that time came.

Kasumi, when younger, was low maintenance in comparison. She would eat at certain times of the day, and sometimes in between them. She would sleep a full night, up to seven hours, and maybe take a quick nap mid-afternoon.

That moment, the new addition to the family cried out in hunger, causing her mother to rise with a tired sigh and walk to her room. Kasumi had moved into one of the guest rooms on the second floor, the closest to their bedroom, and slept on a child's futon.

Nabiki now occupied her sister's old crib, moved from its former spot by the window and to the opposite wall.

"Coming, Nabi-chan!" called Kumiko, using the child's nickname.

The two month old, cute in her frilly pink shirt, wailed loudly until she was safe in her mother's arms. She never stopped crying when Soun picked her up, but struggled a little and cried louder. Kasumi had yet to do anything but look, and shy away when either parent tried to let her have a closer look of her sister.

Kumiko was still worried about Kasumi. She had yet to speak, though watched and listened intently to anything happening around her. Kumiko knew with a mother's instinct that her daughter understood everything said, just didn't say anything of her own.

"_Is it normal for a twenty-six month old to sit around and yet not speak?_" Kumiko wanted to ask someone. But who was there that would know? She couldn't very well call her mother; international calls were too expensive for a marital artist's wife and her limited budget.

"You hungry, Nabi-chan?" Kumiko asked absently, unbuttoning the top of her blouse with one hand as the other supported her daughter. She offered her daughter a nipple, thinking back to when she'd tried to feed Kasumi that way.

'_She turned away and only drank out of a bottle. I swear, if she had been an older person, I would think she'd have turned bright red and paled at the same time. But then, that's impossible,_' Kumiko thought to herself as Nabiki sucked her milk greedily.

The woman had had to get a breast pump, and that thing was uncomfortable!

After ten long minutes, Nabiki yawned cutely and fell asleep in Kumiko's arms. "I'm sure your sister will love you," she murmured, laying the dark haired baby back in the cradle, "as soon as she sees you like this, kawaii-chan."

Kumiko returned to her comfortable chair and forgotten knitting. It was a sweater for Kasumi; dark blue and pale green stripes made in complicated patterns. She was glad her father's mother had taught her mundane things. Her mother's family, on the other hand…

She shook her head, not wanting to think about them. They weren't on back terms, per say, but just didn't share the same views on many subjects. Like whom she had married.

They would say, "The best you have out of that are two strong daughters, now divorce him and come home!" At least, something of the sort. And not so rudely, either.

"Kasumi and Nabiki," Kumiko said softly to herself. "My two wonderful little girls."

The moment was a peaceful one, and would have continued to be until sunset if her husband hadn't come rushing in, Kasumi following him like a lost puppy. Soun shouted something that Kumiko couldn't quite catch, and the unnoticed Kasumi just stood off to the side, looking slightly troubled.

"What was that, dear?" Kumiko asked with forced patients.

He yelled whatever it was again, forcing his wife to her feet and danced her around the room. Kumiko did the only thing she could think of doing; she malleted the man and waited for him to recover. At least she would calm down now, she thought.

Soun pealed himself off the floor only to find his wife standing threateningly over him, mallet still at hand. "What was it you wanted to tell me, darling?" Kumiko asked all-too-sweetly, smile matching her tone.

Violence forgotten, Soun jumped up and hugged the woman he loved tightly. "I have wonderful news!" he explained, letting go only when his wife tensed to attack.

"What is it, husband?" Her look clearly said _'this had better be good or else_'.

"Genma married Kamiyo-san four months ago and is now pregnant! The schools shall finally be united!" explained Soun in excitement, dropping the letter addressed to him. He'd been clutching it all the while.

Kumiko leaned down and picked up the folded papers, ignoring her husband now dancing with their (bewildered) daughter. Reading through it twice over, the dark haired woman smiled slightly.

"They also moved somewhere near Osaka, dear. We won't be seeing them for a while." Now Soun wasn't listening. "Husband?" Still not paying attention. "Soun-kun?" No, he was too busy dancing around the room to pay her any attention.

For the second time in twenty minutes, Kumiko malleted the man into unconsciousness. Picking up her grateful daughter, she left Soun to lick his wounds and smiled motheringly at her eldest child.

"Why don't we make some cookies, Kasumi-chan?"

Kasumi nodded, smiling brightly at her mother. Yes, life in the Tendo householdwas good.

-0-0- -0-0-

Oka-sama found out a month later that she was pregnant again, after her milk ran dry. That day she took off for the hospital, leaving me alone with otou-sama. I knew he had something planned by the look on his face, and oka-sama had been too frantic to notice.

Otou-sama waved as mother drove away on her sitting-scooter thing, smiling in a way that I'd only seen before he'd done something that rewarded a malleting from his wife. As soon as she was out of sight, he turned to me, still smiling.

I truly wanted to run as he picked me up, holding me gently, and headed towards the dojo. I could guess now what he had in mind.

"Now, Kasumi-chan, I'm going to show you something that you mustn't tell Kumiko-chan about, alright?" otou-sama said, sliding the training hall's door open and setting me down/

Today was one of the rare days when students weren't aloud to come; i.e. a tournament was going on somewhere that my father couldn't afford to go to. We would be alone for a few hours, enough time for me to be shown basic stances of his Style. I have no doubt that that is what he had in mind.

"Since you don't need to change," otou-sama said, noting my cloth pants and short-sleeved shirt that would easily allow movement, "let's begin."

Soun showed me what to do, and I copied him easily. When I did make a mistake, he patiently moved my arm or leg into the right position. I found he was a surprisingly good teacher, never once crying or babbling about his '_darling, talented daughter_' like he usually did.

After watching students of Anything Goes Tendo Style, with the help of my photographic memory, I complied to his wishes with little effort. By the end, otou-sama _had_ burst out in tears of joy, muttering something about an 'heir' under his breath.

I only sweat-dropped at his antics and began the exorcizes again.

Oka-sama burst into the room suddenly, looking shocked, to the scene of her husband crying uncontrollably and her eldest daughter going through martial arts stances. I can only guess what she thought, since instead of getting angry, Kumiko hugged otou-sama tightly. He stopped his tears instantly, bewildered, and patted her back hesitantly.

This time it was mother who began to cry. I've never seen a woman as strong as oka-sama cry at anything save funerals. Seeing her upset saddened me as well.

I felt a familiar earning in the back of my mind. I'd repressed my child's-body desires in the past, and it seemed they'd just built up into something I couldn't ignore.

My eyes teared, and I felt my nose beginning to run. Out of the blue, I began to cry and wail as well, startling my parents.

The next thing I knew, oka-sama was hugging me to her chest, shushing me in a soothing tone. Whatever distress that had started my fit began to fade, and I was once again in complete control.

"It's alright, Kasumi-chan," I hear my mother whisper, leaning away to wipe away my tears. "It's alright. Calm down, dear."

I sniffed once more, before staring up at her with glistening eyes. I knew what others looked like, poutting after crying, and I wonder if I was just as cute and pathetic looking.

Oka-sama hugged me again, and began to ramble. "It's ok; I'm going to be alright. Nabiki-chan's fine. It's me. You're going to have another sister soon, Kasumi-chan. It's going to be ok, though. Nothing's going to happen. Not to me, not to you, not to Nabi-chan, not to my next baby. Especially my baby…"

I hugged oka-sama back, though my short arms didn't even reach all the way around her neck. I couldn't help but want to comfort her. The only way I knew how, though, was to get mother's mind off whatever was bothering her.

"Imouto?" I'd spoken before even realizing what I was doing.

Oka-sama, though, didn't seem to notice my startled expression, let alone the fact that _I_ had spoken and not someone else. "Yes. A little sister. Kasumi-chan's going to have another sister."

"Nabi-chan gets sister?" I asked. Once speaking, I couldn't stop. Though I did make an effort to talk with no complete sentences, and in a childish tone.

"Yes, Nabi-chan'll get a sister, too. I -" Realization dawned on oka-sama's face, though it was soon replaced by wide-eyed wonder. Otou-sama stared, shocked as well.

I stared back, blushing pink. Their expressions were just too funny, and I knew I had to keep in my laughter in order to be convincing in my innocent act.

My father opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. I'd never shocked anyone speechless before, and I memorized the look on his face before I was distracted by oka-sama.

"Did you just…" My mother gaped for a moment, before startling again. "What did you-" And again. "You just spoke, right, Kasumi-chan?"

I nodded slowly, expression purposefully confused. It was easier to act, for me, this time around than the last.

"Say 'daddy'," otou-sama requested. He looked about to burst into tears again, and I knew he'd suffocate me with hugs if I did as he asked.

Instead I said, "Otou-sama."

My father fainted, falling to the ground with a loud thump. Oka-sama didn't notice, but did look faint.

"Otou-sama take nap?" I spoke again, inwardly chuckling at the look on oka-sama's face.

"Yes, Kasumi-chan," mother answered absently, looking bewildered. She gathered herself together enough to stand on shaky legs and take my small hand in her larger one. "Let's go inside and leave your father to his nap, musume."

"'Kay, oka-sama," I stated, letting myself be led to the main house.

Oka-sama looked faint yet again, but gained her bearings quickly.

I was shocked, however, when I heard her mutter, "I need a drink, like o-sake," under her breath. Until then I hadn't known oka-sama to consume anything stronger than tea. Go figure.

When, a few hours later, I heard crying from the dojo, both oka-sama and I ignored it.

"Don't grow up to be like your father, dear," Oka-sama said absently, drinking a questionable beverage and reading a book I couldn't read the title of. I knew hiragana well enough, but few kanji.

"Yes, mother," I replied. She only nodded. After a few cups of what I thought was sake, or something similar, she dealt with my sudden talking much better.

-0-0- -0-0-

That night, then or so minutes after oka-sama tucked me into bed, I snuck out again. The Tendo home's walls were very thin, so all I had to do to eavesdrop on my parents' conversation was stand a few feet from their sliding door and stay as silent as possible.

For a martial artist, though, otou-sama had very poor detection skills.

" – all right," I heard my mother say. From the shadows caused by their lamp, I knew oka-sama and otou-sama were lying on their futon, curled up together.

"What did Kurosawa-sensei say?" That was my father. He sounded concerned, and was unusually calm.

"My body can't handle another birth. The medicine isn't helping and neither are the home remedies Mother's been sending." Oka-sama paused, and I saw otou-sama rap his arms around her in a sense of comfort.

"You have something to say. Speak up, honored wife," Soun gently coaxed. I heard Mother crying silently.

"I believe this child will be our last, honored husband. I will provide you with a strong heir". The last was said with her usual determination.

"It's all right, of course, dear. I just can't help but worry –" she was cut off by a kiss.

I flinched, and inched away. I didn't want to see my parents like that. Just mental images – ew! At least they'd used a guest room when conceiving Nabiki and Akane, and all the tries in between and otherwise. I think it was Akane's future room, too. I'll have to tell her that.

I walked back to my room as silently as I'd left, and sat cross-legged on my child-sized futon, lost in thought. Maybe Akane-san's birth weakened oka-sama, and she caught something like pneumonia and died a few years later? I really didn't want Kumiko to die, though. I'm quite fond of her, as it stands. Soun, on the other hand, is just too annoying sometimes.

I noticed too late that my black dog plushie, Kurei, had moved. On its own. To sit beside me. I nearly jumped out of my skin as an all too familiar and annoying voice asked, "Having fun yet, Kasumi-san, or should I call you – "

Before he could say another word, I punched him in the cheek. Hard. Mentally, of course. In my mind's eyes I watched his transparent form fly through my bedroom wall and do a Low Orbit ™ drive for a dumpster somewhere in Paris, Texas.

In reality, I just tuned him out, glaring at him as I became lost in thoughts of him in unbearable pain. Since he was a spirit, he only screamed out of amusement because he couldn't feel a thing.

"-banana incident," he finished sarcastically, floating above Kurei and petting his stuffed head.

I mentally shuddered. I've been in a few banana incidents, and none were pretty.

"Why are you here?" I demanded in English, as it was the language he was using.

"Checking up on you, of course," he said with a smirked, fingering his neon blue and orange robes. The colors were blinding, and hideous. How whoever his boss was put up with the man's fashion sense is beyond me.

"Why?" I asked, unamused. Still annoying as ever, he was.

"'Cause I wanted to. Besides, this universe just got used to your energy signature and I was sent to see how you were doing," he explained.

"Oh." I had nothing else to say.

"You seem to be adjusting just fine. No side effects from the dimensional change, or fluctuations because of your transfer," he read off of a clipboard that suddenly appeared in his hands. Used to oka-sama's hammerspace access, I ignored the breaking of quite a few Laws of Physics.

"Everything's in order. Now, if you'd just sign here, and we won't be responsible for any mishaps you have in this world."

I could only blink at the contract-looking papers and pen forced in front of my face so suddenly. Staring at them, then at him, I only raised an eyebrow after pushing everything away. "You don't think I'm stupid, do you? I'd like some insurance that if I do anything wrong, I'll at least get some help fixing whatever it is."

Instead of looking dejected of angry, he smiled, just like I expected. "Good to see _someone_ thinks things through. Partially, at least." He bowed suddenly, and I took two quick steps back. "Pleasure to make your acquaintance, oh smart one."

I could tell he was being mocking and sarcastic. "You as well, oh annoying one."

He faked a wounded expression, and clutched his chest for effect. "Oh, your words hurt." He glanced at my door, then backed at me. "Aren't you worried that your new parents will hear you, though?"

I laughed. "Nope. They're otherwise occupied."

He actually turned a faint pink. "Oh." Quick pause. "Anyway, I think you'd better start looking for that necklace and earring I showed you before sending you here. They got separated crossing over."

"Whatever," I muttered through a yawn. "You staying a while?"

He shook his head. "Sorry, hun, but I have a few more appointments before our next meeting. Enough to fill quite a bit of time."

"Don't 'hun' me," I said. "See you in a year or so, then?"

"No, more like six months. Take care not to cause too much trouble," he said, beginning to fade.

"Before you go," I started, and he paused mid-fade. "What's you name?"

"Well," he began, scratching his chin in mock thought, "I guess you can call me-" Dramatic pause "- Nazo (enigma)."

There should've been crickets for the silence that followed.

I smirked. "How about Kawatta (strange, different, weird), or will you tell me your real name?"

He paused, as if debating whether or not to, then smiled as he again began to fade. "It's Shin, though I would've preferred Nazo. It would give me a sense of mystery, don't you think?"

I snorted. "The only mystery here is if you're blind or not."

"That so? How else would I know that your eyes are hazel and not chocolate colored like Kasumi's are supposed to be?" I saw him smirking at me.

As his eyes were the last to go, he saw me stick my tongue out mockingly, and laughed. I didn't get a chance to say anything else, as when his echoing laughter faded, all was silent.

Oka-sama and otou-sama were most likely asleep, and I knew I was tired.

"Good night, Kurei," I said sleepily to my favorite stuffed animal as I dragged him to the bed and lay down. "I hope tomorrow brings the answers to a few of my questions."

I fell asleep rather quickly, of which I was grateful. If I'd stayed up later, I knew sleep would've eluded me the whole night.

-0-0- -0-0-

A/N: That concludes Chapter Three. Chapter Four will have Akane, finally! Hope you enjoyed it.

_Sister Shadow/Li_


	4. Akane and Ameyo Mio

**Broken Mirror Reflecting  
By: **_Shadow/Li_

Disclaimer: I don't own Ranma ½, only the plot ideas. And a few OC.

Summary: The spirit to be reincarnated as Tendo Kasumi turns out to be unavailable when it is called, so another is sent in her place. This soul, however, remembers everything of it's many past lives, a female otaku in the most recent. Armed with the knowledge of what the future of Nerima holds, she begins to plan for the future while trying to forget something in the past.

A/N: An SI story is written by the author about how they view themselves, at least in certain aspects. The soul that replaced Kasumi (I don't know what else to call her) is at **core** how I see myself.

As this fan fiction progresses, she will become entirely her own character. Just to say and explain, for any and all who were the least bit interested or confused.

As before, if you have any questions or just want to say 'Hi' or 'Cool' (in some cases), either review or PM me. I'm now excepting anonymous reviews. Thank you to Vixen2-san for pointing that out!

Enjoy the story!

-0-0- -0-0-

_Chapter Four: Akane and Ameyo Mio_

-0-0- -0-0-

I avoided Nabiki as I had for the past months. This time, when asked why, I usually muttered something incoherent, and then hid for the next hour or so. I think my mother thought I said, "Don't want top hurt," or something similar, because she gave up rather quickly.

As for Nabi-chan (I'll have to remember to call her that when we're older, just to see her reaction), she was her usual demanding self. I wouldn't go so far as to call her greedy, but she was definitely spoiled. She did, however, crawl after me whenever I was near, and smile when my name was said. Barely six months old, now, and she is already showing a sign of 'sisterly love', as otou-sama calls it.

Oka-sama preformed another ritual, concerning Akane this time. She didn't drag me along like before, thank goodness, but I know she prayed for a 'strong child with a powerful will'.

She has calmed down in the last few weeks, though, and has spent most of her time looking after Nabi-chan, or was either in the kitchen or tending her mini-vegetable garden. It's located just beyond the koi pond, and a variety of plants are there. I'd been wondering how she got ingredients so quickly.

Otou-sama seemed disappointed in me when I didn't remember the formers he'd shown me. After picking them up so quick, I guess he assumed I'd remember them and show some talent in Anything Goes. I failed on purpose, of course, and later practiced in my room once his crying fit was through.

I've learned much since coming being sent here, but none so much as in oka-sama's library.

I knew my fear of the occult was unfounded here, since those deaths in the past are only memories now, and I planned to concur that fear. So, one day, I drew up the courage while mother was busy, and crept to the guest room.

I _peek_ wouldn't hurt, I told myself. And it wouldn't lead to being dragged by angry townsfolk by angry townsfolk in a rickety wagon about to fall apart, either. The sores come morning had hurt, and being tied to a stake later didn't help much.

Anyway, I slipped inside easily enough. I froze and waited for something to happen. Traps, I feared, or maybe a ward to detect intrusion. _Surely something would happen_, I thought.

But nothing did.

That is, until I closed the door.

Candles lit themselves, illuminating the room enough for me to make out the altar and the wall of trinkets from around the world oka-sama had collected in her youth. I'd like to do that, to.

Inside the small room, it wasn't as crowded as it had seemed the first time. Then again, oka-sama had been there, heavily pregnant, and I _am_ a small child.

When I turned around to better view my mother's favorite place, I found myself gazing at books upon books stacked on the floor, some in (overflowing) boxes. I'd stared, awestruck.

Keep in mind, now, that I hadn't read anything of interest in over two years. All lives I have been an active reader, when presented the chance.

I picked up a book on impulse, a thin paperback of about two hundred pages, and flipped to the title page. Kanji I couldn't read stared back at me.

I put the book aside and rummaged through the piles as best I could, lifting one book at a time, and looked for any familiar script.

Finally, after what seemed like hours, I uncovered four tomes in English and two in Latin. I would have to take one at a time, of course, but I now had something to read.

The first I took was an English addition on pants and their various uses, complete with a guides to make some interesting things. Hardly what you'd call light reading, but I was too excited to care.

I'm on my third now, the first Latin one. It's a Grimoire of some arrogant wizard who talks on and on about how great he is. Doesn't give a name, though.

At least it's something, I guess.

-0-0- -0-0-

The months passed quickly, and soon oka-sama was extremely pregnant again. At least as large as one could be a six months. She was accustomed to being pregnant, though, and didn't hobble around like last time.

My third birthday had come and gone without much excitement. The party had been quiet, only family and a few close friends were invited. I enjoyed this one much more than the last.

Oka-sama's parents live somewhere in the United States, I found out. Their presents to me were those English speaking tapes, the kind you play at night because it supposedly works better when you're sleeping. They were made for children, though, and my mother saw no harm in setting a tape recorder to play them after I was 'asleep'.

I listened to one and gagged before turning it off hurriedly. I wished for something -a jackhammer, anything- to destroy them. Goodness knows I felt faint.

Did adults really think children enjoyed 'baby-talk' any more than they did? Seriously, I think I was traumatized for a while. The strange dreams of laughing clowns and rabidly cute animals for a few nights after didn't help at all

Needless to say, I turned the player off after oka-sama was out of earshot.

I've run out of books to read and now, desperately, I'm teaching myself to read kanji. In the storage room, I found mother's old school books, where she was learning English rather successfully. Using them the opposite way isn't really that hard.

I've only learned about twenty kanji since I've found them, and it's only been two weeks. Thanks to my photographic memory, I have little difficulty. Sure, I can't read a sentence, or write them, but I know what they mean on sight and how they're pronounced!

The other day I found otou-sama's secret stash of shojo manga. Why did he think my closet was a good hiding place, anyway? Since the speech bubbles have hiragana next to the Kanji, though, I'm able to understand them! I don't go near the large, odd box marked manga that's in the corner, though. I have a feeling its pr0n.

Nabi-chan is still a brat, oka-sama's being moody, and otou-sama cries more often than before, so nothing has really changed. I don't know how I fit into this family, but I like my childhood so far.

I've taken to spending the time I'm not reading, learning something, or otherwise occupied (coughMothercough), following the younger students of my father around when they're doing chores. It freaks most of them out when that a three year old can sneak up on them.

Li Mein, however, is always polite and never jumps. In fact, I think he's glad to see me sometimes. He always answers my questions, though I usually know the answers already. The only irritating thing is what he calls me: Kasumi-sama. Something about his master's heir and how I'm above him in station, he said when I asked.

"Why is your name different than everyone else's?" I'd asked about three weeks ago. It's amazing how my speech and vocabulary seemed to improve day by day.

"How so?" Li Mein asked, pausing in his work.

"Like mine is Ka-Su-Mi and oka-sama's is Ku-Mi-Ko," I drew out each syllable, "but your's is Lee Main." I pronounced it incorrectly on purpose.

"Li Mein," he corrected absently. "And my name is different because I'm from a different place. Chine." He went back to his chores.

That's what I liked best about Li Mein. Even though he was eight or so years older than me, and I was a toddler, he treated me as an equal. I appreciate that more than I care to say.

"Is China far away? What's it like? Do they talk different, like oka-sama sometimes does on the phone?" Mother spoke perfect, if accented, English to her parents in America.

He answered my curious questions patiently, and ended up having to translate some words for me into his native language. I didn't ask him why he was in Japan or how he learned Japanese, because somehow I knew he would be sad if I did.

Finally, I asked (demanded, really) the question I'd wanted to since the first time I'd met him, "Will you teach me Chinese?"

He said 'no' at first, but after a few days of being pestered by a persistent child, he gave in. As I knew it would be, my accent was horrendous, but Li Mein was a patient teacher. He never had to tell me anything twice, which helped incredibly.

I can say generic phrases, now, and count to thirty. I'd go higher, but he hasn't taught me forty yet.

Learning Chinese early on will solve the problem of doing so later, as I want to be able to understand the Amazons when they come. It would also be useful to have a book on their laws memorized, and them to look for loopholes. I'll stick with what's with me for now, though.

But I'll plan in more detail later. I have sixteen years, after all.

-0-0- -0-0-

Three months later and Akane was born. In spring, just as the cherry blossoms were beginning to bloom, and I had another sister already.

The hospital was almost empty, being two in the morning as if was, and I left a slumbering Nabiki with our snoring father. I had someone to visit, seeing as I somehow knew she was here. Even if what's-her-name had been annoying, she was the first kid close to my age to make an offer of friendship.

I thought I owed the blood-sick girl at least a 'hello', if not a bit of loyalty.

In the children's ward, all but one door was shut tight. It was repainted neon blue from its former green, but I knew it was hers thanks to my photographic memory.

The light was on, and when I snuck in, a private room with lots of cards and no white I could see save the sheets on her bed. Sitting up, pale but smiling, was a fragile girl with pale hair and dark eyes.

"I saw you earlier," Mio began, and I hoped she wouldn't babble. "I knew you'd come." Why was I so worried when she fell silent? Sure, she'd rambled on and on last time, but still…

Maybe it was because a six year old shouldn't smile so sadly, or have such pain in her eyes. There was also strength there, but still the sadness outweighed the hope.

I've guessed what my active power was before; I knew it had something to do with sight, but I couldn't ask mother because it might cause suspicion. I now knew for sure. These eyes of mine '_see the truth in everything_', whether it be through illusion or the suppressed nature of someone else, including their doubts. Masks and lies too, I hope. This could really come in handy.

"My name is Kasumi," I said, since I didn't know how else to begin. "Pleasure to make your acquaintance."

She smiled, this time brighter, and took my offered hand as I stood next to her low bed. "I'm Ameyo Mio, resident chatterbox. Pleasure's all mine." She paused, only to begin anew. "How have you been? Good, I hope. You aren't here 'cause you're sick, are you? The food's _terrible_, but the nurses are nice. One snuck me a lolli the other day."

I smiled too, somewhat relieved. "I've been fine. Oka-sama had another baby. My imouto's name I Akane."

"Ok," said Mio. That's good. Mom wants another kid, but dad says three's enough. I like my 'nii-chans. They're nice. They visit every day. Yasu-nii is nice and Kuro-nii just turned seven. They go to the same elementary school. It sounds fun. I can't wait to go. When are you going?"

I just nodded, really listening for once, as she talked about her family, not waiting for an answer to any of her questions. Talkative as she is, Mio is also a good listener. I almost let something about my reincarnation slip when it was my turn to talk, and barely caught myself a few times.

It was almost three-thirty in the morning when I glanced at the clock, and I could tell Mio was tired. So was I, to tell the truth.

"Goodnight, Mio-chan. I'll come see you tomorrow," I said, exaggerating my own yawn only a bit.

Her smile fell a little. "Promise?" She stuck out her pink finger, and I silently hooked mine around it and tightened.

"Promise," I said seriously, face set and tone sincere. She giggled as I released her hand, but frowned as I made my way toward the door.

"Tomorrow's a long way away." She pouted.

I laughed and glanced again at the clock, raising an eyebrow. "Four hours is a long time?" I asked, even though I knew she'd sleep longer.

"I suppose not." She smiled. "G'night." Her bed was comfy, I bet. More so than a waiting room chair, which I would soon make a bed.

She was asleep before I slipped out the door.

-0-0- -0-0-

After oka-sama fainted, a nurse came in and called the medics. She was placed on a stretcher and taken back to her room in the Maternity Ward. Otou-sama and Nabiki-chan were both awake when we came back, worry clouding their faces.

Man. I wish I'd brought Kurei with me. At least then I would have something to hold onto, for comfort if nothing else.

I don't remember much after that; it's all a blur. The doctors said she'd collapsed from the added stress of a rough childbirth and walking around after not resting enough.

Is it my fault? I woke oka-sama up early, not letting her get all the rest she really needed. She had been pale, but I'd thought it had just been the hospital lighting.

Its foolish to blame myself, I know. But, unconsciously, I somehow decided this was my fault. If I'd just let her sleep a while longer and hadn't dragged her to meet Mio-chan, maybe...

I shook my head, trying to get those kinds of thoughts out of my mind. It wasn't my fault. It wasn't. It wasn't. I know it wasn't...

Otou-sama interrupted my mantra. Pulling me to into his cheerful embrace with one arm, he cradled Nabiki in the other. I thought, at a time of crisis like this, he'd actually be somewhat calm. Guess I was wrong, again.

"Oh, Kumiko-chan!" he screeched, hugging both Nabi-chan and I to him tighter. We both squirmed to get free, her more than I. Whatever nonsense otou-sama kept spouting, I couldn't understand a word of it.

People were beginning to stare when he finally let go, thanks to the urging of a nervous nurse. She didn't want to kick us out, but would have to call security if he kept making a scene.

I took my chance and wiggled away, dashing through the halls and to the nearest ladies room. The door closed with a bang, and I clutched the frame, panting. I could tell, somehow, that the room was empty just from a glance. My awakening powers, maybe? Too bad oka-sama wasn't here to explain anything.

"Please be alright," I prayed aloud. "I don't want her to die. She still has at least four years, right? Akane needs to know her..." I wanted to cry, and I don't know why I'm now. Might be shock. I don't know.

"You know, talking to yourself is the first sign of madness," said a familiar voice to by left, by the lavatories.

"I'm not talking to myself if you're here," I said in English, turning to stare at the transparent being. "I hoped you'd get a fashion sense while you were gone. But orange and purple? Really."

"I see _you're_ just as pleasant as always, he joked, floating about the sinks. He checked his hair in the mirror, reflection only a whitish mist. "How's it going?"

"How do you think?" I snapped, not in the mood for his antics. My mother was in a hospital bed and I thought it was my fault unintentionally. Definitely not one of my good days.

The spirit huffed. "Show some respect for your elders, young lady. I've been around since before your soul was created."

"Yes, O Great Shin-sama," I said sarcastically, slouching against the door. "What would I do without you?"

"You'd still be stuck by your body until the bones were eventually found, then stuck for eternity in a cemetery where the only thing to pass the time would be to play cards with thieves, murderers and the damned. Of course," Shin said, being dramatic. "No need to thank me. Just repay the debt ten-fold and I'll be fine."

"Hmph," I snorted. "More like I'd be reborn again when my body was cremated. Then the cycle would start all over again."

"Thank was also a possibility,"he agreed. "Not a likely one, but still a possibility."

"Are you just 'checking up' on me again?" I asked, staring up at him as he soared around the woman's room lazily. Thankfully n one had tried to come in yet.

"I've warded the door to look like a janitor's closet," he supplied helpfully, as if reading my mind. Which I suppose he could. "And yes, I'm here to 'check up' on you."

"Oh. Good." I didn't have anything else to add.

Putting my head in my hands, I could feel his presence shift closer to mine. It really wasn't all that comforting, but having someone who knew who I was right now really did help. At least, a little.

"What's happened?" he asked, actually concerned.

"You should know." I paused, regretting how harshly I snapped. "Do you really want me to tell you?" He nodded.

I sighed, smiling ruefully. "Oka-sama's collapsed. Stress from a rough childbirth and too much activity afterwards, the doctors said. I wonder, is it my fault? I made her come with me, after all."

"Its not your fault," he reassured me. Hesitating for a moment, Shin drew close enough to hug me loosely.

To anyone else, I bet his touch would be feather light, like a caressing wind. But to me, he felt as solid as anything, maybe even more so. I could feel his presence in my soul, not just against my physical skin. It calmed me, and made the anxious feelings that had tightened my chest for the last few hours drift away.

"Thank you, "I said, smiling. At least I felt better, now, if nothing else.

Shin only nodded, land let go.

Silence filled the room, but it was a comfortable one. It was nice in a way I haven't known in a long, long time.

"What did you do?" I asked curiously, sitting cross-legged on the floor.

"Gave you peace of ming," he said simply, hovering a few inches off the ground, arms crossed. I think he tried to be Buddha-like, but it didn't work very well with his purple pants and bright orange button-down shirt. "Simple, really." he didn't even sound smug like I thought he would.

I perked up, smiling brightly. "Can you teach me? Please?" I sounded like the child I was supposed to be.

Shin grinned. "Sure. If you're willing to explain to my secretary and personal assistant why I would be occupied."

I stared at him blankly. "You have a secretary?"

"Why, yes. Isn't it obvious?"

"Nope," I said bluntly. "I thought you were just a random factor."

he huffed. "Fine, don't believe me. See if I ever help you again." Crossing his arms and pouting, I couldn't help but laugh at him. He just sulked even more.

"What were you doing , anyway? While you were away, I mean." I was curious. "Your secretary didn't keep you **busy**, did she?"

He smirked. "Looking in on future players in Nerima's future drama. What have you been doing?"

I shrugged. "This and that. Nothing special."

"really?" he asked, a bit surprised. "I thought you would've gotten into at least a bit of trouble by now."

"Huh uh," I smiled charmingly. "I've been a perfect angel."

"Don't doubt that," Shin muttered so low I almost didn't hear.

"See? Even _you_ know I'm a good girl."

He gave me an unreadable glance. "Doubt that, I really do."

It was my turn to huff. "Are you done here yet? I bet your secretary's waiting."

"You don't know the half of it," he said. Smirking, Shin began to evaporate, just as he'd faded last time. "Ja matta, Kasumi-chan." He mock saluted.

"See ya, Shin-chan," I said sweetly, with a bright smile.

He winced, but managed a cocky grin. "Yeah, yeah. I'll be back in a week. I'd appreciate some chocolate next time, you know."

"As if you need any sugar." He was almost gone. :Come at night, please. I don't want my family-"

"I know," he cut me off. "Later."

He was gone. "Yeah. Later."

Left along in a highly perfumed lavatory, I stood along. I do hope oka-sama will be alright. But I have to see someone else right now. Even if it is only through a window, with others her age, I'd know my little sister in a heartbeat.

Oh Akane-chan; I hope you aren't blamed for what's happened.

-0-0- -0-0-

A/N: Sorry for the long wait. Wasn't sure how to finish up the later part. I try and make most chapters six pages long, and I'd stopped at four, so... It takes me ages to type, too, and I can't do it at home because I don't have a (working) computer. Thank Goodness for the library.

Enough of my complaints. Thank you for reading. As an added bonus, a preview of the next chapter.

-0-0-0-0-

_Oka-sama is fine. She has to take pills now, but she'll be released in a few days. Akane-chan is stay with her, for now. Nabiki-chan is her usual self, a bit selfish but cheery and bright. She can actually make otou-sama stop crying with a giggle, now._

_I'm with my family, I have a guardian coming in four days that I know I can get some answers out of, and the world is (mostly) at peace. I have a good life, even if I am currently a three year old._

_So why do I feel so anxious?_

-0-0-0-0-

_Sister Shadow/Li_


	5. Timely Conversations

**Broken Mirror Reflecting  
By: **_Shadow/Li_

Disclaimer: I don't own Ranma ½, only the plot ideas. And a few OC.

Summary: The spirit to be reincarnated as Tendo Kasumi turns out to be unavailable when it is called, so another is sent in her place. This soul, however, remembers everything of it's many past lives, a female otaku in the most recent. Armed with the knowledge of what the future of Nerima holds, she begins to plan for the future while trying to forget something in the past.

A/N: It's been almost a month, but here is the next chapter. Chapter six is going to be shorter than this one; just like the last ones. I just had more to add here than any other.

Enjoy.

-0-0- -0-0-

_Chapter Five: Timely Conversations_

-0-0- -0-0-

Oka-sama is fine. She has to take pills now, but she'll be released in a few days. Akane-chan is stay with her, for now. Nabiki-chan is her usual self, a bit selfish but cheery and bright. She can actually make otou-sama stop crying with a giggle, now.

I'm with my family, I have a guardian coming in four days that I know I can get some answers out of, and the world is (mostly) at peace. I have a good life, even if I am currently a three year old.

So why do I feel so anxious?

I feel like something bad is going to happen. It's like someone has constantly watched me, eyes burning into the back of my head. Sad to say, I'm becoming quite paranoid.

I hope it's only my imagination.

Li Mein came, even though otou-sama told everyone that the dojo is closed until further notice. He's been doing chores and taking care of Nabiki-chan. Father's holed himself up in his room and refusing to come out the times between visiting hours at the hospital.

Li Mein even cooked us dinner! While not as good as oka-sama's it's better than no food at all; I'm not complaining. I am now, more than ever, thankful to have such a reliable family friend.

"Oishi desu," I told Li Mein politely, folding my chopsticks across my rice bowl and clapping my hands together. "It was very good. Thank you very much."

"Your very much welcome, Kasumi-sama," Li Mein said, smiling. He half-bowed and began to collect the dishes. I rose and helped him, giving my elder a look that left no room for argument.

We cleaned the table and began washing dishes in companionable silence; though I did need the aid of a high stool to help dry them. Li Mein rinsed a heavily soap-bubble covered serving pot before speaking first.

"Have you been practicing your Chinese, Kasumi-sama?" he asked. We hadn't done lessons together in a while, not since two weeks before Akane-chan was born.

"Hai, Maenu-sensei," I said teasingly, using the name I'd begun to call him three weeks before. I'd thought to call him 'Rii Maenu', but that was as much a mouthful as 'Li Mein'. I'd shortened his name for a reason.

I felt eyes on me again, goosebumps rising on the back of my neck. I tensed, and strained my senses. I only felt Li Mein beside me, otou-sama in his room, and Nabiki-chan taking a nap in her room. Yet I still had the feeling of someone watching me intensely.

What -or rather who- could it be?

"Is something wrong?" Li Mein asked, startling me enough to make me jump. He stared at me with concerned, dark eyes, and I felt something -an emotion I didn't quite recognize- tighten in my chest.

I didn't want to lie to him, not after all he had done for us. His actions alone made up for otou-sama's unreliability and my own helplessness because of my age. But I don't know what else to do, since telling him isn't an option I'd even consider.

"It's nothing," I said quietly, cursing myself for being unable to look up. I never knew my feet were so interesting...

He gave me a skeptical look, but let it drop, whatever 'it' was. I like that about him: he never pushes because he knows I'll tell him when I'm ready. I haven't met many people like that, but all of them have been true Ladies and Gentleman.

"Kasumi-sama," he began. I could tell by his smile that he understood, at least a little. "Please repeat the second conversation. The one we went over last time."

"Hai!" I said brightly, and did as I was asked.

I like him better in teacher-mode, as I have dubbed his change in attitude when instructing me. He's good at it and corrects me gently when I make a mistake. If I don't understand something, he goes over it until I do. Truly, I wouldn't mind having him as an older brother.

He's like one already, you know.

"Very good," Li Mein said after I finished. "Your accent needs work, but that' to be expected from someone your age."

I had the urge to wave the spatula I was drying at him angrily, but refrained from doing so. I have a feeling it would be more frightening were I old and usually calm.

Li Mein never brings up the issue of my age, so neither do I. I wouldn't want to upset our friendship, after all.

"What's your family like?" I asked out of the blue, suddenly curious. I know his mother and father are still alive, and that he has an older sister, but I haven't asked further before because that conversation might take a turn to a subject I have no business knowing about.

Why he, a Chinaman, was in Japan.

"Ah," he sighed. I could tell thinking about them made him sad, but I knew (thanks to my handy-dandy Truth Powers) that it wasn't for the reasons you'd think. He wasn't homesick, but the thought of his family members made him sad, confused, nervous and slightly bitter.

"What do you want to know, Kasumi-sama?" he asked, smiling at me.

Ah, so my powers _can_ see through masks people consciously -or unconsciously- create. Whoa... double images and lots of colors that I just _know_ represent different emotions.

Have you ever spun around and around over ten times and then gone once or twice the opposite direction, still feeling light-headed but not as dizzy anymore? Do that a few times and you'll know how I'm feeling right now.

I can't say what I saw. It's too confusing and brilliant to put into words, and I'd fail every time I would try to explain.

I don't know how, but somehow I answered Li Mein's question with one of my own, "What's your sister like?"

Emotions flickered in his yes that I clearly saw as colors behind his unconscious mask. He loved his sister, but also envied and feared what she could do. They god along, but there was a hidden rift between them on many levels, at least from his point of view.

Goodness. This power's tough to handle. I glanced around the room, and inanimate objects had white auras around them! (Meaning peace and good use, just to note.) I wonder if oka-sama knows? I bet she does.

"She's a warrior where I come from," Li Mein said, and began to describe his sisters. His not-so-fake-anymore smile never left his face. "Her name is Li Shu. Our Grandmother's been training her for as long as I can remember."

"How old his she?" I asked my thirteen year old friend.

"She'd be seventeen now. That's marriage age in our village; 17 or girls and 19 for boys." He stared at the soapy, cooling water devoid of dishes, a far away look in his eye.

"Is she getting married?"

"Not yet." Said in a whisper. "She has to find someone suitable first." He sounded hopeful.

"Suitable?" I asked before I could stop myself.

"Yes, suitable." Li Mein snapped out of his daze and smiled warmly at me, colors of emotion swirling in chaos. I felt bad that I'd upset him. "Are you tired, Kasumi-sama?"

"I'm sorry," I whispered, missing his surprised look as I glanced at the clock. It was already two in the afternoon, when oka-sama usually made me 'nap' and woke Nabiki-chan up from hers. (I used nap time to study, mostly.)

"Yeah," I murmured, yawning for effect. I jumped off the stool as Li Mein drained the soapy water. He dried his hands, and then offered me one.

I took it, unable to meet his eyes.

He bent down to my level, and turned by face so I had to look into his (sincere) eyes. "It's alright. Time for bed."

I nodded and smiled brightly. Time to get some studying done, maybe review a little before continuing.

"Let's go." I let him lead me.

-0-0- -0-0-

"Your late," I said in English, hands on hips as I glared at my transparent friend.

"Am not," he stated childishly, floating a few feet away.

"Yes, you are." I sighed as she oh-so-maturely stuck his tongue out at me. Thankfully, he refrained from starting a conversation of "are not"s and retorted "are too"s.

"No, I'm not." He folded his arms and stuck his pointed nose in the air. "I said a week, and it's been a week. I don't lie. And I'm not late!"

"Oka-sama was released from the hospital yesterday." My tone was serious but I kept my face as emotionless as I could. "It's been nine days, Shin-kun. Five to seven days is a week."

I'm thankful that he'd remembered to my request and come at night.

"So?" he pouted, face at my eye level. (Finally)

"So?" I repeated, exasperated. "I need some answers. What were you doing, anyway?"

"Classified," he stated with a snort. "I can't tell you until you've been here longer. Of course, it's none of your business, anyway."

"Yes it is. Now that I've come here, anything that could change what's going to happen is my business," I said pointedly, poking him in the chest. At least this time his clothes (somewhat) matched. "Next time your late, I'll report you."

He laughed. "You don't know who to report me to, even if you could."

I smirked. "The communication spell for the spirit version of an Operator would be in oka-sama's books, wouldn't it? All I have to do is look for it."

Shin snorted, floating leisurely around the room. Really, it would be easier talk to him if he'd stop floating three feet above me! I'm young and short here; I can't help it!

"You can't even read kanji. How would you search for a spell when the instructions are written in them?" Darn him and his reasoning! It was hard to stay angry and not feel foolish when he put it that way.

"Yes, well..." I trailed off, not sure what to say. My anger disappeared in an instant, like steam from a kettle. I've noticed that my emotions are much calmer in this life than my past ones. It must be Kasumi's influence, or her temperament beginning to melt with my own.

"Don't sulk," Shin said, face a few inches from my own. I just blinked at him, unconsciously noting the color of his eyes. (A vibrant blue-green, I must note.) "I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings."

Why does he always have to sound so smug?

"I'm not sulking," I huffed, smiling a little. "I'm just thinking."

"Penny for your thoughts? Though, it would be a yen here, wouldn't it?" He backed away slightly, still kneeling on air close to my level.

"It would," I said. "And no, I don't want to tell you."

"Now I'm dying to know." He glanced down at his transparent body. "Well, not literally." He smirked, and so did I.

"I'm still not telling you."

He puppy-pouted at me, looking the cutest I've ever seen him. "Pweeze?"

Ugh. I hate those voices. So, "No."

Shin kept staring at me with big, sparkling eyes, but when he noticed they had no effect on me, he tried to guilt-trip me into telling. When I didn't fall for _that_, he tired a few other methods that crashed and burned so bad I could've made s'mores over the wreckage.

Just when he was starting to get desperate, a brilliant idea came to him.

"Would you please tell me?" Asking politely always works, now doesn't it?

I smiled. "Sure."

He stared at me in surprise. "Really? You'll tell me now, just like that?"

I rolled my eyes and thought, '_Men_.' (No offense to the taken and gays. All the good ones are usually one of those.)

"Yes, I'll tell you. Though it's nothing much." I stared at my toes, wiggling them. Squashing the urge to giggle, I continued, "I just noticed that… your eyes are blue. And vibrant."

He stared blankly at me. "You noticed the color of my eyes?" he asked for confirmation.

"Yes."

"That they're blue."

"Yeah."

"And vibrant?"

"Yes."

Silence, then, "That's it?"

"Yup." I smiled sweetly.

When he didn't burst out laughing, I looked up. He stared at me oddly, as if **really** looking for the first time. "They're blue to you?" he finally asked.

"Uh… yeah." Shin made me uncomfortable –his actions, at least-, and that hadn't happened before.

"You…" He trailed off, cleared his throat, and began again. "No one has seen my true eye color since… ever, I think. So how can you-'' I felt him check my aura.

"Because I can," I answered his question before he could finish asking.

I've checked my own aura before, by using my arm. It's bright, not blinding but almost, with so many swirling colors it can make you dizzy if you look too long. Oka-sama has a similar aura, though hers is currently duller because she's still week.

"I see," he said. I know he did. I'm sure Shin's met people like me before, maybe even been one at some point in time.

"What do you see?" I asked, his serious mood affecting me.

Shin glanced down. "Nothing," he blurted out too quickly, expression troubled, though I could tell me tried to keep it neutral.

"Nothing is always something in the end." I sighed. "Please tell me, Shin."

"I-'' he began, but thought better of what he was going to say. "You know where we are, don't you?" For the first time, his feet touched the ground.

"Yes," I said, sitting down comfortably. He did the same. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"It's you dream," he said. "Your powers and consciousness make this place what it is. You unconsciously and consciously change it all the time."

"I knew that already," I said, trying to be patient. "I've read enough manga to know things like that.

"Than you should know," Shin was being extremely serious (how uncharacteristic of him), "how most manga and stories are written."

"You mean the Medium Theory?" I asked, unsure of what he meant.

"Yes," that spirit confirmed. "You can call it that."

"So. What does authors channeling history of other worlds and writing it down as fiction has to do with me being able to see the color of you eyes?"

He laughed. "There's a gap, I admit."

I stared at him blankly, waiting.

"Alright. As you know, it can also be the other way around. For example, the series Ranma ½ and Inuyasha from your previous world were channeled through Takahashi Rumiko-san. (She put a bit of herself into them and twisted the stories a little more to her liking, though.) However, your arrival here has disrupted things a bit." He laughed nervously, obviously wary of my reaction.

I only sighed and asked, "What's changed because of me?"

"I don't know. The ultimate outcome will most likely be the same, only the paths going there will be changed. We don't know what exactly will happen, but you have out assistance, if you need it."

I stared at him for a few long moments. Shin looked back unblinking and sincere. I turned away first.

"You know, I'm not even going to ask who '**we**' are." Shin sighed in relief. "But I _do_ want to know what my aura, your eyes, and my Truth Vision ability have in common."

"I only came to tell you what I've already said," Shin stated, floating once more, but cross-legged only a few inches off the ground this time. "I suppose I could inform you…"

He was back to his annoying, smug self. For some reason, I felt relieved.

"Please do," I said dryly, squashing my smile before it had a chance to bloom.

As if sensing my change in mood, Shin grinned. "I'll tell you… for a price."

"What do you want?" I eyed him carefully, making sure he knew not to take this joke too far.

"Chocolate, of course," he said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. I suppose it should have been.

I almost face-faulted, but caught myself just in time. "No way are you getting any! You're hyper enough as it is!"

"But Kasumi-Chan," he whined. "I really want some. Hareru-chan won't let me have any! Not at all!"

"Hareru-chan?" I blinked. "Is that your secretary's name?"

"Yes." Shin was sulking. There was no way to get the information that I could see without giving into his (admittedly simple) demands.

"Alright," I sighed.

A candy bar appeared in front of Shin. His face lit up and be began to happily munch away. "Give me a Nestlé next time."  
Twitching, I asked as calmly as I could, "Will you tell me now, please?"

"Sure." He licked his fingers like a little kid. I suppose, since we are in my mind-field, that he's solid here. "Just a minute."

I shifted my weight into a more comfortable position, smirking to myself.

Another candy bar appeared in front of the spirit, this time a Nestlé Crunch bar. He eyed it like a predator would prey. But when he tired to grab a hold of it, it always floated just out of reach, even when he floated after it.

Crying eyes stared at me. I almost felt pity.

"How can you!" He calmed down when he noticed my glare. "Please?"

"When you tell me what I want to know," I said evenly, intending on holding my ground.

"Alright." He sniffed, staring at the chocolate just beyond his grasp. "You promise, right?" He turned his puppy-pouting eyes to me.

I nodded. "Promise."

"Well…" he began. "I just realize a while ago that, if you're powerful enough to see what no one else has seen…"

"What?" I asked, hoping he didn't mean what I thought he meant.

"Powerful people attract others of power; that's how it works." He was actually being smart for once. "Therefore, powerful people, not just that ones Fate has tied to Saotome Ranma-kun, will likely be drawn to Nerima as well."

"Ah, man!" I complained. "Why did they have to be right?"

"They?" Shin asked, confused.

"CLAMP," I supplied helpfully, cradling my head in my hands, elbows on knees. '_I hope people like Kamui-san from X and Seishiro (either of them, from Tsubasa Chronicle and Tokyo Babylon) don't come._' Mustn't think of it, or they just might!

"CLAMP?" he asked again, surprised this time. "How do you know them?"

"I don't know them, but I know _of_ them. They were pretty popular in my old world. I loved their manga (still would), and I'm disappointed that I didn't get to finish reading all their works."

"CLAMP," Shin began, explaining something, "is an example of the reverse I was talking about. They've created a number of worlds and are held in high regard by my kind."

"Go figure," I muttered. "Did they create all their characters as well?"

"In a way; the souls of their characters whispered what they wanted them to do. All except two."

"Lemme guess: Yuko-san and Clow Reed."

"How did you know?" He seemed surprised. You'd think he'd get used to me knowing things I wasn't supposed to my now.

"I just do," I stated with a grin.

The sky flashed blue and black, and the ground under neither me began to shake. It stopped as suddenly as it'd begun.

"What-?"

"You're waking up," Shin said. "I'll take my leave, now."

"Bye, then," I replied, closing my eyes. "See you next week."

"Yes." Shin began to fade. "If Hareru-chan'll allow it."

"That secretary of yours had better." He only laughed.

I smiled as the black before my eyes faded into red and white, dancing specs. Then I opened them.

-0-0- -0-0-

Tendo Soun shook his eldest daughter awake, saying in a quivering voice, "Kasumi-chan. Wake up, Kasumi-chan! The doctors called."

Her eyes snapped open and he found himself staring into the eyes of an intelligent and innocent child. How could he tell her the news without breaking out in tears?

Contrary to popular belief, Soun wasn't pathetic. He just had uncontainable emotional outbursts when it came to his family. His own family! (Reasons from his past caused all this, but he was too proud a martial artist to ask a psychologist for help.)

"Oh, Kasumi-chan!" her father cried, hugging the girl tightly. (She went limp, having figured out the best way not to accidentally get hurt.) Tears streamed down his cheeks uncontrollably. "Your oka-sama-!"

Nabiki-chan, who'd been carried by her father and them set down by her sister's bed, began to cry for attention. Soun immediately released his thankful eldest and picked up the middle child, who giggled.

Nabi-chan got what she wanted when she wanted it every time.

"Kasumi-chan," the man began more calmly, "Your oka-sama has to go to the hospital again. The doctors need to run some more tests, even if Kumiko-chan is feeling better. You'll be a good girl, won't you? Nabiki-chan will stay with me. I bet you could even see your little friend, what's-her-name." He was babbling, but that didn't matter.

Soun waited for the cry of joy. That didn't come.

Kasumi stared at him in confusion, head tilted to the side in just the way only children and super-cute people could pull off. (He'd look more than foolish even trying.) "What'd you mean?"

Soun laughed at himself. Of course as child couldn't understand the way he'd gone and farced it. What he didn't catch was his daughter's eye roll of annoyed (passing) expression.

"Oka-sama," he began again, "feels better, but she needs to go in for a check up. You can see your friend while we're there."

He was unprepared for the noise Kasumi made (a part whoop, part shout of joy) to express herself. She was, after all, very close to that friend of hers. He could never remember her name.

"We're off to see Mio-chan! Oka-sama's coming along!" Kasumi said in a sing-song voice. Her father was glad to see her happy.

"We're leaving in a minute, Kasumi-chan. Get changed," Soun said. Kasumi smiled brightly up at him and nodded. "Oka-sama, Nabi-chan and I will call a taxi."

Soun left the room, carrying Nabiki, and met his wife in the front hall. Kasumi scrambled down the stairs a few moments later, her pajamas replaced with a simple white-lace dress that had her name in hiragana arranged on the sleeve.

"Let's go," she shouted, and they all climbed into the waiting vehicle.

-0-0- -0-0-

I stared out that window of the car, watching Tokyo pass us by. The hospital where Nabiki, Akane and I were born is the best in the city, and across town from Nerima district. We always came by bus or cab; it must cost my parents quite a bit. Maybe they should get their own car.

Wait. Neither of them has as license (that I know of). Ok, bad idea.

As soon as we arrived, I jumped out of the car and ran straight for Mio-chan's room. I knew the way by heart by now. After all, I'd visited here every day that oka-sama was hospitalized.

A few days apart were already too long, in my opinion.

"Mio-chan," I cried, bursting into her room. She smiled brightly, turning her attention from a young man to me. I rushed to her bedside, the one facing my entrance. Unnamed-boy stood on the opposite side, by the window.

I studied the boy. He looked around nine or ten, and wore a blue and black, clean-cut private school uniform. I didn't recognize the crest; not surprise there. No-name stared at me, dark eyes set in a feminine-beautiful face. He had grey hair, with highlights a shade dark than Mio's color.

'_Is this Mio-chan's older brother Yusaki-san? He looked like her enough to be_,' I thought, staring back in surprise. '_That means he must go to Shinseiki Academy._'

Shinseiki Academy, from what Mio has told me, is a school for the elite. It turns out more scholars every year as its reputation in modern culture grows. It was originally an institute for those who wanted both knowledge and enlightenment. Students were handpicked –the best of the best- and taught by the monks who'd founded it.

Ten years before I came here, the city threatened to shut them down because they only had around fifty students. They sought the help of an undisclosed wealthy man and then became a haven for the oddities of the academic world.

Ameyo Yusaki, Mio's said, has a scholarship there for all types of art. Yusaki, she also told me, is viewed as the academic brother, while her Kuro-nii prefers sports.

"This is Tendo Kasumi-chan," Mio introduced me to the nine-year old. "The one I've told you about. Kasumi-chan, this is my brother, Yasu-nii."

I bowed first, saying politely, "It's nice to meet you, Yusaki-san."

He half-bowed and nodded silently to me. Whispering something to his bedridden sister, Yusaki-can walked past me and out into the hall.

My expression must've shown my confusion because Mio explained, "Yasu-nii is very, very shy. He doesn't have many friends at school, either. Kuro-nii says he's the exact opposite of me. Ka-chan agrees with him. What do you think?"

Mio has learned, from having a friend who listens, to let me answers instead of rambling on and on and on.

"I think," I began, "that you are you and Yusaki-san is Yusaki-san." Her answering smile was almost blinding.

I haven't met Mio-chan's family. Her mother sounds like a nice person, and her father better than otou-sama. (Then again, any average man would be a better father than Soun.) I may have 2 siblings, but they're both too young to really do anything with.

I wish time would just move a little faster. (Knock on wood, of course.) I'm too envious.

"Yup, I'm me and you're you." My friend's grin could put the hypothetical sunlight to shame. "How's your oka-san?"

"Better." I hope so. "She has a check-up now."

"Check-up?" She frowned. "With needles and doctors and those beepy machines? That isn't fun. Shouldn't she be doing something fun and get better faster? Like go to an amusement park, or eat ice cream cones in the park! That always makes me feel better."

The door creaked open behind me. Yusaki had closed it leaving. Mio smiled at the dark haired boy standing shyly in the doorway. He had a baseball cap on backwards, several scrapes and a torn t-shirt over worn shorts. His (blue) eyes stared at me, almost glaring, before softening when he looked at Mio.

"Kuro-nii!" she exclaimed, sitting up. "What're you doing here? Yasu-nii just left. He should be with ka-chan and tou-san in the cafeteria."

"I wanted to see you." he murmured, sneaking closer. He gazed warily at me as he took his brother's place by the window. "Who's she?" he pointed rudely at me, still almost glaring.

I fought an amused smile. When he's a bit older (or I am) I but it'll be fun to rattle his temper a bit. He has the kind of cute, fuming face people with hot tempers have. Kuroku-san will be handsome when he's an adult, though; I don't need my Truth Vision to tell me that.

"That is Tendo Kasumi." Mio introduced me, giggling. I bowed and replied politely. His face turned red. "The friend I've told you about."

"Nice to meetcha." He said awkwardly, shifting his eyes to the tiled floor.

"Same here." I smiled. "What sports do you play, Kuroku-san?"

His face brightened dramatically and he said with (expected) enthusiasm, "Basketball, soccer, football and I'm on the track team. Tennis is ok, but I'm not that good at it. Soccer's the best, though." He went into a detailed explanation of his latest game.

Truly, Kuroku was most like Mio. From what I'm told, Mio is most like her mother (blood disease excluded). Does that mean Yusaki-san is like their normal father?

"Oh, and – "

Kuroku-san was interrupted by a knock on the open door.

"Ka-chan! 'tou-san!" Mio said loudly in surprise. Her smile was even more blinding than before.

The woman was average height, curvy and dressed in a green spring dress with comfortable sandals. She would look right at home in a garden. The man – tall, pale hair, clear blue eyes the same shade as Yusaki-san's stood next to his wife in a traditional, long-sleeved kimono. It was a dark brown, tied with black strings. All he was missing was the old fashioned too-large, dark hat.

Miyami, Mio's mother, flew past me and hugged her daughter tightly. "Oh, Mio, Dear! You look pale! Do you need anything? Food? Water? A new manga? Your brothers came to collect the old ones, didn't you, boys? You need your rest. Should I tuck you in dear?"

I sweat-dropped. Mio could be a younger double of her mother if the woman didn't have black hair.

Yusaki stood next to his father. They both shared a similar body type and expression. It was like seeing chibi-double.

"Oh!" Miyami-san finally noticed me. "Who're you, dear? A friend of my Mio-chan? Why, you're so cute!" She hugged me tightly, but at least I could still breathe. "What's your name? Where are you from? Where are your parents? Oh, I hope they're here. I won't know how to handle a run-away."

I gazed at Seimaru-san, Mio's father, over her mother's shoulder. Together, they looked nice, couple-wise. But I guess opposites attract sometimes; their personalities are really different.

"Ka-san," Mio said helpfully, "I think Kasumi-chan's turning blue."

"Oh, I'm sorry, dear!" Miyami-san released me, checking to make sure I hadn't fainted. "Are you alright? Do you need a nurse? Should we call one, Sei-kun? Do you need to lie down? Oh, what do I do?"

The brothers sweat-dropped at their mother's antics while Mio-chan laughed. Seimaru-san didn't seem effected whatsoever. I stared blankly at her, not sure what to make of my friend's spacey mother.

"I'm fine, Ameyo-san," I said through her babbling.

Stopping mid-sentence, the dark haired woman smiled brightly and hugged me again. "Oh, that's wonderful! I thought we'd need a doctor! Your so cute, too. I _knew_ Mio-chan had great taste in friends. Don't you agree, Sei-kun?"

Her husband nodded silently.

"Ano..." Kuroku-san began nervously. "Your strangling her again, 'ka-san."

I was greatful to him when she let go again, panicking. I thought the woman was hyperventilating until Seimaru-san touched her shoulder calmly. She stopped mid-sob, and looked up at the man, suddenly as calm as he was.

"Something wrong, Sei-kun?" Miyami-san asked, blinking up at him.

He nodded, and spoke for the first time, "You are scaring Mio's friend."

I stared at the exchange, backing away slowly, afraid of the hug-from-Hell that was just as bad as otou-sama's. Now who did she remind me of? I could've sworn I've seen that attitude somewhere before...

"Oh! I'm sorry, dear. I guess I got carried away, didn't I?" She looked sheepishly at me, and I just nodded, turning my head to make myself look shy. "Are you really sure you don't need a doctor, dear?" She was now talking to her daughter.

"Yes, ka-san. I feel just fine." I knew she did; my Truth Vision told me so.

Looking doubtful and worried, Miyami clutched her daughter's hand, forgetting her audience. "If you're sure, dear. I don't want to push, but..."

"I'm fine," Mio said with more conviction.

I turned away from the family moment as the mother and daughter hugged one another tightly. I felt like I was intruding one something sacred and sweet. Thought I bet I've had moments like this with my own mother numerous times.

A large hand clasped my thin shoulder, and I saw the kimono-clad Seimaru kneeling down beside me. He didn't seem the type to do something without reason; I wonder what he wants.

"They are one of a kind," he said in my ear, and if I was older, I would've felt intimidated. I didn't because I know no one will ever dare harm a child my age.

I nodded in agreement, keeping my expression carefully child-like. I didn't want a stranger to be suspicious.

"Don't worry," Seimaru-san whispered. "But they need some time alone."

I nodded again, and he released my hand. Bowing, first to the duo of mother and daughter, then to the father and both sons, I took my leave.

Out in the halls I wandered a bit, and finally asked a nurse where the testing was.

In the elevator (tenth floor, room 1006), I wondered about what I'd sensed from Seimaru-san; a kind of relaxed, powerful feeling a little like what I felt from ka-san's aura, only really, really different and more intense.

I suddenly heard Shin's voice in my head. '**Powerful people attract others of power; that's how it works.**'

No. Oh, no. Please don't tell me that Mio-chan will be one of them, the people attracted to Nerima because of me! Argh, this power-thing isn't just handy, it's annoying, too!

Leaning my forehead against the cold metal wall, I thought, '_I _know_ I'm not Mio's friend just because her family has powers. I _know_. I don't even think she inherited anything from her father. At least, nothing apparent yet._

'_Please let her be normal. Please, for her own good and mine, _let her be normal.'

-0-0-0-0-

A/N: This chapter's longer than the others by about four pages. Hope you enjoyed it!

Next chapter: Kasumi begins her first day of school!

_Sister Shadow/Li_


	6. School Day

**Broken Mirror Reflecting  
By: **_Shadow/Li_

Disclaimer: I don't own Ranma ½, only the plot ideas. And a few OC.

Summary: The spirit to be reincarnated as Tendo Kasumi turns out to be unavailable when it is called, so another is sent in her place. This soul, however, remembers everything of it's many past lives, a female otaku in the most recent. Armed with the knowledge of what the future of Nerima holds, she begins to plan for the future while trying to forget something in the past.

A/N: Time jump. There probably won't be another, but I'm not sure.

-0-0- -0-0-

_Chapter Six: School Day_

-0-0- -0-0-

A year and eight months has passed since Akane was born. I still visit Mio-chan at least four times a week. I've even spent a few nights at her house when she was feeling up to going home. Their house is a nice place; two story with four bedrooms, two baths, a large kitchen, living room and recroom in the basement.

Akane and Nabiki are one month-'til-three and three-months-'til-two years old. Both take up oka-sama's time more now, since Akane is reckless and clumsy and Nabiki sneaks around the house, learning everything she can about anything going on.

Oka-sama's sickness is gone. She's still weak, and if she becomes pregnant again there's a 70 percent chance she'll die in childbirth. Her immune system has also been weakened, so otou-sama has been particularly strict with her about work and overexerting herself.

Otou-sama has more students than ever. Li Mein is still here; he's an advanced student now, almost as good as Akane will be at sixteen. He may only be thirteen, but he's just as strong as some of the twenty year old students my father has.

I'm five. And currently sulking. Why else would I be recapping on a time when nothing much has happened?

Oka-sama doesn't believe in preschool or kindergarten. "Why would you give up your child to another person in their most influential years?" are her exact words.

But as I said before: Akane and Nabiki are a handful. Just the other day, Akane almost fell down the stairs. If Li Mein, coming in for a drink of water, hadn't been there, something serious could've happened to her.

That's one of the reasons said Chinese boy is walking me to the locate elementary school for my first day of classes. (Oka-sama is busy with my sisters and otou-sama has to go to a tournament his younger students are participating in.) My parents trust him enough to look after me; he _is_ their most faithful student, after all.

"Why do I have to go?" I whined, swinging our joined hands as we walked. I don't think he wants me to wander (escape, really) off.

"Everyone goes to school, Kasumi-san," he said patiently, smiling his usual calm smile. I'd gotten him to relax his respect a little. In my opinion, Kasumi-san is much better than Kasumi-sama.

"Why can't I be special and not go?" I asked, wanting to know. We could give Li Mein the spare room, since Akane and Nabiki were sharing the one next to oka-sama and otou-sama's, and he could be my tutor.

Yeah. I'll bring that idea up with my mother when we get home. Now all I have to do is get through a day playing with snot-nosed brats and annoying crybabies.

Man, this is going to be a long day.

"You are special, Kasumi-san," Li said, kneeling down to my level and staring me straight in the eyes. He clasped my shoulders and tried to explain. "I know you'll miss your family, but you have to go. I know you want to make your mother proud, don't you?"

I nodded enthusiastically, meeting his eyes squarely. Cool. He has soulful, grey-green eyes that could stare through lies. I think I've made it a habit to notice people's eyes; after all, they're the 'windows to the soul'.

"Yes! I want to make oka-sama, otou-sama and Maenu-sensei proud," I said with childish glee. I noticed the surprise on his face, and hid my amusement under beaming smile. "Will you be proud of me if I go, Maenu-sensei?" I'd taken to calling him that all the time, much to my parent's confusion.

"Yes, I will be," he said. Li Mein released my shoulders and stood.

"Then let's go!" I grabbed his hand, dragging him in the direction of Nerima Primary. I would be in first grade, having passed the all-too-easy entrance exams in November. (Odd as it is, school starts the second week of January here.)

Li Mein followed along, smiling. I still didn't want to go, but if I said anything now I wouldn't look like a little girl wanting to please the adults in her life.

Annoying. Growing up again is just plain annoying.

We arrived at the elementary school a little past eight-thirty; class began at nine. I had about twenty minutes to find my cubbyhole and all that. I bet the teacher would help. Hopefully (s)he isn't a baby-talking, underestimating person.

On the bulletin bored in the front hall was a list of classes and names underneath. There were two columns; one in pink and one in blue. Under each were class names and the students that belonged to which ever group.

Li Mein spotted my name first.

"Lavender Class, 1-1." She smiled softly down at me. "You're in the best class, Kasumi-san."

I smiled too. "Were you in a class?" I asked, curious.

He nodded. "Yes, when I first arrived. I was in year 2, class 4. We were the cat class." Li chuckled.

Did I mention that in Nerima, boys and girls were separated until the third year of primary? It's some sort of tradition, at least in the public schools. (Oka-sama wanted to send me to a private school, but the Tendo clan is currently tight on money.)

"I like cats, and lavender," I said, grabbing his hand again. "Where do we go to now?"

"Your class, Kasumi-san." He led me down the hall and to a sliding door with the sign:

**1-1  
Teacher: Shidou Megumi  
Assigned Name: Lavender**

'_Where have I heard that last name before?_' I thought, staring at the paper under it. It was a class list of twelve students, eleven my new classmates. At least no male bullies would bother me; female ones are usually easier to deal with.

"Are you going away now, Maenu-sensei?" I asked, tearing up a bit. My acting skills are fantastic, don't you agree?

"No," he said patiently, knocking on the closed door. "Maybe soon, but not immediately."

I sniffed, but managed, "OK."

Li just nodded and squeezed my hand in reassurance.

The door to the classroom opened just as my friend raised his hand to knock. There stood short, smiling woman whom I assumed was my teacher. She had long, red-brown hair done up in a thick braid and intelligent, red-brown eyes that reminded me of someone else.

So did her last name; Shidou. Where have I heard it before! From my former world before, but really, I'd known a lot of names in my various lives.

"Oh! Which of my students are you, little one?" she smiled sweetly down at me. For some odd reason, I giggled. I didn't even have to force myself, like I've had to do recently.

Weird.

"Tendo Kasumi," I said shyly, stepping behind Li Mein's legs a bit. All part of my act, I assure you.

"Oh! And who is this? Your older brother?" she asked, smiling at the teenager.

He shook his head, also smiling, and said, "No. I am to take Kasumi-san here and pick her up afterward. Her mother and father are busy at the moment." He was being polite, just like always.

"My, what a responsible young man you are. Kasumi-chan, why don't you choose a seat while I talk to your friend? You're the first one here." Shidou-sensei smiled at me, moving to the side so we could enter the class room.

Three rows of two two-person tables with a separate under-hanging for each person to put their books and writing things. The chairs were all for children my (current boy-wise) age, painted standard, feminine colors. Murals of flowers and bunnies and rainbows were painted on the walls, and girly things were scattered around the room.

Frankly, I felt sick to my stomach.

At least the seat I chose (a pale purple chair and darker-painted, wooden table by a window overlooking the lower-grades' playground) wasn't as horrifying as the rest of the room. I don't know how anyone could stand to stay in a place so girlish.

I suppose I would be happy, though, if I were a real five year old.

As Li and Shiou-sensei talked, I caught a glimpse of 1-1's name list tacked to the bulletin and automatically memorized it. Like I've said, having a photographic memory comes in handy.

I read it in my mind's eye:

**Class 1-1, Lavender**

**1. Tendo Kasumi  
2. Saitou Chiyo  
3. Tenjou Mia  
4. Shino Katsuki  
5. Nakame Ai  
6. Ozaki Hanako  
7. Nobuyuki Keiko  
8. Honda Natsumi  
9. Katsumoto Megumi  
10. Nakazaki Harkuko  
11. Aoki Yayoi  
12. Okamura Kazemi**

The list, as was usual in schools here, began with the highest test scorer and ended with the person who did the least well. I wonder if oka-sama knew that I aced my entrance exams. If she did, she didn't say anything to me.

"Kasumi-san," Li Mein said, standing over my desk and smiling. "I'm going to leave now. Do you think you'll be alright alone?"

"I'll be fine!" I said enthusiastically. "I have Shidou-sensei now. Thank you for coming here with me, Maenu-sensei."

He bowed and stated politely, "It was my pleasure. Have a good day." He turned to leave after standing straight.

"I will." He waved as he walked past my new teacher and out the door. "I will."

The small red-head came over to my desk, expression curious but kind. "You certainly have an odd friend there," she commented. I could tell she wanted to know who he was and what his connection was to my family.

"Li-kun isn't odd," I said, saying his last name the way he'd taught me. The Chinese way. "He does chores for otou-sama and helps oka-sama when he isn't learning from otou-sama. He sometimes stays with us, too. He did when oka-sama had to go away for a while."

I made my tone and express that of a rambling girl wanting to make her teacher proud or something of the sort. It gets easier and easier every time I acted to do as I now did.

I should get an award, don't you think?

Shidou-sensei didn't push, but I could tell she wanted to know more. Maybe she was one of those teachers that wanted to help kids in troubled homes, or just gossip with other teachers. She probably thought that if she asked anymore, I'd be suspicious and clam up.

If she thought so, she would've been wrong. I'd say only what I wanted to say, nothing more and nothing less.

"If you need anything, don't hesitate to ask," Shidou-sensei told me after pointing out the place to put my coat and bag. It was January, and though it hadn't snowed, it was still pretty cool.

"Hai, sensei," I said, beaming up at her. She smiled back and went to her desk.

After stowing my stuff and taking my seat again, the door opened to admit a normal looking woman and her average daughter. Brown hair, brown eyes, clothes that suited the current fashion; nothing special. I went back to putting my books in the under-hanging.

The girl (Nobuyuki Keiko, Shidou-sensei had called her) took a seat up front, nearest to the door, and jumped when the door opened again.

The next four girls didn't do anything to catch my attention, though I knew one (Tenjou Mia) would grow up to be a real old-fashioned beauty. One sat next to Nobuyuki-san, two who seemed to already be friends said together, and Ozaki Hanako-san chose a seat by the already-seated Tenjou-san.

I sat in my windowed corner (I had the farthest back seat), half-reading a book in hiragana for kids years older than me, when a kimono-clad, stern looking woman entered. The girl with her (not her daughter; they looked nothing alike) had a blank expression that could only come from personal training.

"Oh! You must me Nishihara-san. Is this Shino-san?" my teacher asked. I watched discreetly from the corner of my eye, keeping my booking in the way of them noticing me.

"Yes. Shino-sama," the woman knelt down to her charge's level when speaking to the girl, "please choose a place. I will take your things."

Shino Katsuki-san nodded sharply, and the woman called Nishihara took her bag. The girls already in class stared as the calm, controlled (I assumed) martial artist-in-training walked down the isle and stood at my desk, staring hard.

I looked up, blinking, face as blank as hers. "May I sit here?" She asked politely. I heard what she didn't say, '_You seem quiet. You won't bother me._'

"Yes. No need to ask, Shino-san," I said, allowing a small smile.

Shino-san took her seat, saying nothing in reply. Nishihara-san came with her mistress's books, setting them silently on the purple table. She all but glared at me as she bowed and asked Katsuki, "Do you require anything else, Shino-sama?"

"No, Nishihara. I am fine." It was a bland dismissal, but her servant obeyed nonetheless.

Shino-san didn't talk as the other girls (save two) entered and took seats away from our table. The one in front of us (a bright blue table that wasn't as bad as the neon pink to our right) had yet to be filled.

The door burst open and in came a blurred figure. This girl caught my attention, obviously right away.

"Sorry, sensei, I woke up late." A few other girls snorted at the blue haired girl's state. She wore worn shorts and an equally worn, white T-shirt. The girl was breathing heavily from running so fast and was crouched in half, hands on scabbed knees, trying to catch her breath.

'_She's definitely a wild one_,' thought, noting the bandana over her short hair. I glanced to my right at Shino-san, who was also staring, unamused, at our gasping classmate. '_The total opposite of Shino-san._'

"I'm Okamura Kazemi, written with the kanji for 'hill' and 'village'. My first name's in hiragana," Okamura-san said unnecessarily when Shidou-sensei asked, grinning brightly. "Where do I sit?"

"The only open seats are in the middle, Kazemi-chan." Shidou-sensei pointed to the blue table I described before.

"Ok, sensei!" Okamura-san saluted and headed our way.

"Kazemi-chan," our teacher said, looking concerned. "Where is your parent?"

The girl turned back, still smiling, but I could tell it was a bit pained. "Oka-chan forgot to wake me up, so we both rushed off."

"Oh." Shidou-sensei sounded disappointed, but was distracted when her student (Katsumoto Megumi, if I remember right; which I did) asked a question.

Okamura-san startled the seat by the window, the one in front of mine, and smiled at Shino-san and I. "Hello! My name's Okamura Kazemi! What're your names?"

I returned her smile. "It's nice to meet you, Okamura-san. My name is Tendo Kasumi." I could tell by the way Shino-san glanced at me then stared blankly over the friendly girl's shoulder at the chalkboard that she didn't want to answer. "This is Shino-san. I think she's shy," I whispered the last bit, making sure the girl couldn't hear me.

Okamura-san giggled. "Maybe. Anyway, don't call me Okamura-san. That's my dad." She scowled only a second, then her grin returned. "You can call me Kazemi-chan, or Kaze-chan, or Zemi-chan, or just plain Kazemi, Kasumi-chan."

"Kazemi-chan," I tested it out, smiling. "It's nice to meet you, Kazemi-chan."

"You too, Kasumi-chan. Now, what're we going to call you?" she asked Shino-san. The other girl ignored her. "Oh, come one, don't be that way. We need a nickname for you, since you're so shy."

Shino-san stared hard at the girl, the barest frown on her face, as Kazemi-chan thought. She was also oblivious to the almost-but-not-quite glare she'd earned. I stifled a giggle, and closed my book after memorizing the page number (I didn't have a bookmark).

"What's her first name, Kasumi-chan?" she asked me. Shino-san gave me a look that said 'don't-you-dare' even though I did.

"Shino Katsuki-san," I supplied helpfully, smiling at my desk partner in a way that made her regret thinking me quiet and not troublesome.

"Isn't that a boy's name?" Kazemi-chan asked with absolutely no tact, frowning at the scowling Shino-san. "Did your parents want a boy?" The addressed didn't reply.

I could tell through my Truth Vision (that'd been acting on its own for the last few months) that my new friend's words sent mixed feelings through Shino-san's aura. It might've been true, or many others could've guessed so enough that it upset her despite her cool outer demeanor.

"Anyway," Kazemi-chan continued, ignoring the other girl's silence. "You need a nickname, so…" She was cut off by the door opening again as the last person arrived.

In walked a dark haired girl dressed in pure black (pants, shirt and trench coat), long hair in a high ponytail and long bangs. A cool-looking man in sunglasses and equally black clothes and trench coat stood behind her, most likely the girl's father.

"Are you Aoki-san?" Shidou-sensei asked, smile as bright as ever.

"Yes," answered the man in a monotone voice. He looked dangerous, both from image and aura. "I am sorry we are late. We had a few… problems along the way."

"Oh. I'm sorry to hear that. It's alright, since it's the first day." Shidou-sensei turned to attention from father to daughter. "Please take your seat, Yayoi-chan."

The girl stared at her with piercing, cat-like eyes and nodded. She silently walked down the isle and stopped by Kazemi-chan's table, sizing the other girl up.

Kazemi, oblivious as ever, smiled up at the dangerous girl and said, "Have a seat, Yayoi-chan! My name is Okamura Kazemi, written with the kanji for 'hill' and 'village'." She certainly was proud of her name, I noted with an amused look. "I'm sure we'll be friends."

The room froze as the girl offered Aoki-san her hand. I glanced at Aoki-san Sr. and could tell he was inwardly smiling. I almost laughed at the astonishment that showed on a few of my classmates' faces when she nodded and took Okamura-san's hand in a tight grip.

As soon as Aoki-san took a seat and her father had left, Shidou-san started class. "Welcome to class 1-1, Lavender class," she began. "I'm looking forward to a fun year."

Almost everyone (with the exceptions of Aoki-san, Shino-san, and another girl I hadn't really noticed before) smiled up at their teacher.

"As for the Class Representative," Shidou-san paused and smiled at me in an encouraging way. (_Oh, no. Please, no._) "Tendo Kasumi-chan had the highest score on the entrance exams. She will be our Class Representative."

Kazemi-chan turned in her chair and grinned at me. Shino-san stared at me blankly, as if to say, '_You're smart?_' Aoki-san turned a little in her seat as I stood, but her face was as expressionless as the girl who sat next to me.

My classmates stared at me as I walked up the isle and stood next to Shidou-sensei, truly aware of our difference in height. For a five year old I was tall (I always have been, except that one time… different story for a later time), but I would prefer to be at least four feet!

I know what my fellow students are thinking, '_She's smart? She doesn't look it._' I didn't look the scholarly type. I was extremely cute (admirable, and in that I take pride) and would grow up to be pretty. I didn't look athletic, either, but I was above average in that, too.

Kazemi-chan started clapping, and soon the rest of the class joined in. Shidou-sensei smiled proudly down at me, and I bowed nervously.

This was going to be an extremely long day.

-0-0- -0-0-

By lunch, I was exhausted. We had homeroom from nine to nine-thirty and class until lunch a noon. Next would play-time until one-thirty and class again until two forty-five. Extra-curricular activities or cram school for the other girls, while I would go home when Li came to pick me up.

Morning class had been boring. I knew all the stuff Shidou-sensei was teaching, but I pretended to listen intently while I let my thoughts wonder. I made more progress teaching myself at home than I did here.

Kazemi-chan was worse than Mio-chan hyper-wise. She asked me question after question, which I answered politely. I felt the least I could do was keep her off Shino-san's back when she tried to talk to the silent girl, so her attention was on me more than it had to be.

Thankfully, lunch would (hopefully) be quieter as I eat at my desk and Kazemi-chan went to socialize with the other girls…

"Kasumi-chan!" Or not.

Shino-san actually flinched at the sound of her voice while Aoki-san, who'd pushed her table up against ours for some reason, looked on impassively. My new friend seemed to leave the daughter of a dangerous man somewhat alone, so it didn't bother her that much.

"Kasumi-chan!" Kazemi said loudly, standing in the isle by our tables. "You wanna share?" She, as well as a few other girls standing close, eyed my bento with envy. Oka-sama has been teaching me to cook since I turned four, and I'd made my lunch myself.

"No," I said bluntly. She pouted.

"Come on, please? You can have some of mine." She offered her also-beautifully made bento (complete with octopus hotdogs) for my inspection.

I stared at it, than looked at my own. A bit sloppy, but still a good meal. Sigh. "Fine."

"Yay!" she shouted for joy, doing a little dance that made her drop the bento. Kazemi-chan stared in horror as it fell in slow-motion toward the floor, gasping mouth covered by her hand.

Yayoi, in just as slow-motion, darted out and caught it a few inches from the floor and set it on the table. The food in side the box hadn't even moved.

Kazemi-chan shouted a "Thank you" and glomped onto the impassive Aoki-san, who just stayed completely lax and waited for the hyperactive girl to let go.

"You're welcome," Aoki-san finally spoke when my friend had yet to let go.

Smiling in a dangerous way, I stole an octopus hotdog of hers from the box, making sure she'd seen. Reaching for another, my chopsticks were blocked by Kazemi-chan's as she glared playfully at me. Somehow she'd let go of Aoki-san and gotten her chopsticks in the space of a blink.

"Now you owe me something of yours, Kasumi-chan." She grinned, eyeing a fried egg.

"Choose away, Kazemi-chan," I said, stealing another piece of her food.

We ate in silence for the rest of lunch, Shino-san glancing at us once in a while as if to say, '_You are both crazy. Why am I even associating with you?_' I would've answered, "Because we're fun," while I could.

-0-0- -0-0-

I was worn out from recess (in which I tried to read my book but Kazemi-chan somehow convinced me into joining a near-deadly game of dodge ball), boring classes (that I couldn't even sleep in) and hyperactive friends (three guesses who, but the first two don't count) when school let out. I'm now waiting for Li Mein, still sitting at my desk, while Shino-san and Aoki-san stare silently at each other.

I'm so bored I've almost convinced myself that they're speaking telepathically. Knowing my life now, I wouldn't be surprised if they could.

That reminds me, I need to visit Mio-chan tonight. Visiting hours started at four, so I can go then. Li's taking me most of the time, now. My two friends get along well; Mio has enough to say for three people and Li Mein has patientance and understanding.

"Shidou-san," a familiar voice said from the door. "I am here to pick up Kasumi-san. Is she ready?" He was standing in the hall, hidden from view.

I glanced around –having become paranoid after a day of being friends with a sneaky, energetic and stalker-type person— and looked for Kazemi-chan. I knew she'd gone home already (not waiting for a parent), but I was just making sure.

"Kasumi-chan," Shidou-sensei called. "Li-kun is here to take you home." She pronounced his name the Japanese way. Inwardly I winced, having grown accustomed to hearing it said properly (oka-sama knew Chinese and otou-sama just called him 'son' or 'boy').

"Li-kun," I cried, running to my elder friend as he stood in class 1-1's doorway. I could feel all the remaining girls' eyes on us as Li only laughed and knelt down to catch my running hug.

"Did you have a good day, Kasumi-san?" he asked, smiling softly at me. I bet most of the girls' had written his off as my big brother or cousin.

"Yup. Class was fun, and I made friends!" I knew he was getting worried that I was lonely because I didn't know kids my own age or something. I guess most normal kids my age would be when most of the people around are adults, or almost grown up.

"That's good. Where's your bag?" He looked around when I glanced away. "Ah, there it is." It was by my seat, ready and waiting, where I'd forgotten it in my gladness of seeing Li Mein.

"I'll get it," I said, releasing the arm I'd unconsciously been holding tightly onto.

I walked back to my table as Shidou-sensei drew him into conversation, likely trying to gather more information on my home life. Either she was curious, concerned, or just nosy; I still didn't know.

Shino-san was staring at me strangely when I reached my desk. So was Aoki-san, but she was being much more discreet about it.

"Is something wrong?" I asked, brows knitted, wonder about her aura's mix of curiosity and realization. What had she confirmed in her mind that had to do with me?

Shino-san spoke first, "Your last name is Tendo."

I blinked a bit and grabbed my bag, staring at my classmate in confusion. "Huh? Hai," I confirmed, wondering what that had to do with anything.

"Does you family own a dojo?" Aoki-san asked calmly. She'd been cool all day; so had Shino-san, mostly. Both had training in some kind of control, though the later kept slipping a bit. Like now.

Shino-san glared at out cool-headed friend for asking something before she could again. I decided to go along with their questions as long as nothing unusual was asked –playing the part I'd chosen, of course.

"Yes!" I said, clapping my hands in excitement. "Otou-sama teaches people at home!"

"Him." Shino-san pointed to Li Mein, who was currently laughing at something Shidou-sensei's said. "He's a student of Anything Goes Tendo Style." She colored slightly at my curious stare and explained, "He's gone up against a student of _my_ family's dojo at the District Tournament."

"Is he trained by your father, Tendo-san?" Aoki-san is more diplomatic than Shino-san; she's handling the situation much better than my desk-mate.

"Please, call me Kasumi," I said automatically. 'Tendo-san' was how people addressed otou-sama and oka-sama (if they weren't a student). "Li Mein-kun is a student of otou-sama." I pronounced his name in the correct, Chinese way. Shino-san didn't notice, but Aoki-san had.

"Really? Does you family teach Anything Goes? Are you the heir?" my classmate asked, frantic on the inside.

"No." I said it in a way that they wouldn't know which question I was answering.

When otou-sama noticed that I had not interest in martial arts beyond watching and Nabiki-chan would rather follow oka-sama around, he turned his attention to Akane-chan. He couldn't teach her much yet (she's not even three!) but he tried. He'd even gone so far to announce her as heir to the Anything Goes Tendo-Style last August in front of all his students.

I never saw oka-sama cry so much in her private sanctuary, the little room in the guest room (next to the nursery that my imouto shared).

"Oh." Shino-san was relieved despite her unenthusiastic reply. Aoki-san, on the other hand, continued to stare at me strangely, as if trying to decode a secret document.

"Why do you ask?" I'm curious, so sue me.

"Otou-san says that Anything Goes perverts the martial arts forum and that the so called masters are nothing but ----- ---- ------- ----," she whispered. "Oka-san said never to repeat what I heard. But I don't even know what it means! Do you?"

Aoki-san and I shoot our heads, though I sweat-dropped. Her father had a mouth on him alright, at least when something got him angry.

"He also said that one of them would betray me for a fifty yen coin." Sounds like Saotome-san, I thought. "Good thing you aren't the heir, then, or otou-san would be very mad." She actually smiled at me, coming out of her shell a little. Either that or her control of her emotions was slipping.

"I'm not the heir," I confirmed with a nod, ignoring Aoki-san's hard stare.

"Kasumi-san," Li Mein interrupted, standing next to a girl and her mother who were already leaving. "Ready now?"

"Hai!" I called back. "Bye, Shino-san, Aoki-san. Ja matta, ne?" I waved from the door.

"Ja!" called Shino-san. Aoki-san just waved.

I grabbed Li Mein's hand as we left the elementary school. Most others were either on their way to cram school or still inside, waiting.

Smiling, I thought as I tugged my older friend in the right direction, '_Time to go home!_'

-0-0- -0-0-

When we got home, I left Li Mein to his practice in the dojo and headed towards the kitchen, where I knew oka-sama and Nabiki-chan were cooking. Akane-chan was being instructed by otou-sama, much to her delight. They would be done in time for dinner, but no sooner.

I ran into the kitchen, panting (my body is too small and underdeveloped for me to do much of anything), just in time to see Nabiki-chan stumble-walking toward something hanging from the stove top. Oka-sama, distracted, didn't see.

Stupid sister and her unwavering curiosity!

Racing to catch my imouto (she was only a few feet away), I had just enough time to throw us both out of the way. The hot pan of food, which had been teetering on the stove edge on top of the towel Nabi-chan pulled down, clanked on the floor upside-down, drawing my mother's attention.

As she fussed over first me, then Nabiki, I wondered why oka-sama had been so careless around her notoriously-troublesome middle daughter.

I smiled as oka-sama cradled us protectively, muttering under her breathe about 'safety' and her 'babies'. Nabi-chan squirmed, glad of the attention but not the pressure of the hug. I stayed very still, almost frozen, as I sensed something I hadn't for a long time.

There were eyes on us; the same ones I'd felt when talking to Li-kun that one time, and before thegate incident last year. Why was someone watching us? How were they watching us?

Or was it just me?

In one of our many conversations, Shin had said that spirits of this world would be curious about me. Some might even feel threatened. But he'd blocked them with a blue ward anchored throughthe blood of an individual (me), so no one in my immediate family could be scried or otherwise spied on.

So why did I still feel them watching my every move?

Pushing the feeling away for the moment, I felt my mother's hold loosen.

"Kasumi-chan," oka-sama said as she released me, stood. Holding a giggling Nabiki-chan still on one hip, she ruffled by long hair with her free hand. "Thank you."

I smiled brightly, innocently, up at her. "I have to protect my imouto. That's what big sisters do!"

"'Nee-chan! 'Nee-chan!" Nabiki chanted childishly. Her first words, unsurprisingly, had been "How much?" while on a shopping trip with oka-sama. After calling Kumiko "'ka-chan", her third word was "'nee-chan".

"Nabiki-chan!" I said right back, copying her tone.

She giggled. Oka-sama smiled.

"How was your first day of school?" she asked, setting my sister in her highchair. Nabiki then amused herself with the fake (unswollowable) money laid out before her. Oka-sama began cooking again.

I took a seat, leaning forward on the chair's edge, hands between my legs for balance, and took a deep breath. "IT was great! Shidou-sensei's nice! I liked the classes. Did you know that the hiragana for 'ku' looks like an open mouth?"

I was starting to sound like Mio-chan or Miyami-san (my best friend's mother), so I stopped.

"That's nice, dear," oka-sama said, cleaning the rice. I stood up to help, but she waved me. "Sit. Your father insisted this be a celebration dinner. I can't let you help!"

"Hai!" I sat back in my seat, shifting into a more comfortable position.

There was a comfortable silence for a moment that I was hesitant to break, the only noise caused by Nabiki's playing. Key word: almost.

"Guess what? I made friends!"

Oka-sama smiled again. "I'm proud of you. What're they like?" She was curious on who chose to be friend her eldest daughter, and who I would call a friend.

"Kazemi-chan asked first," I began, glancing discreetly up. The eyes were still upon us, though I felt no current threat from them, even if they did make me uneasy. "She sits in front of me, with Aoki-san. She's quiet." I stopped when oka-sama began to cook in the wok, but she gestured for me to continue.

"I share I desk with Shino-san. She's quiet, too, and her family runs a dojo, too." Oka-sama paused, almost dropping her cooking but catching herself just in time.

"Shino-san?" she whispered.

"Yes. Is something wrong, oka-sama?" I asked, worried. She seemed distant and distracted as she continued making dinner, as if looking somewhere far away.

"No, no." She sighed unsteadily, took a few deep breaths, and calmed down. "Just don't mention her to your father, alright, Kasumi-chan?"

"Yes, oka-sama."

Something was definitely suspicious. An old rivalry between our schools, perhaps? Or maybe Happosai-san stole underwear from a former Shino master's daughter and the Clans have hated each other ever since.

I hope it's not the later.

As oka-sama put the finishing touches on dinner, Akane-chan and otou-sama rushed in, followed by a few hungry students who'd smelt their Shisho's wife's excellent cooking. I felt the eyes withdraw.

"How much?" Nabiki-chan asked her first rhetorical question, holding out a giant five yen rubber coin.

"I don't know," I replied. She looked disappointed, but that could've just been my imagination.

How much for something you can't buy or trade for?

I wish I knew the answer. All I know is: everything has a price. So what was I to pay for being here?

-0-0- -0-0-

A/N: It's longer than normal. I had fun writing this chapter. I hope you enjoyed it as much!

Next chapter: School continues, but something happens. Something entirely unexpected. A hint: has to do with one of her previous lives and reincarnation. Also, the crossovers begin!

_Sister Shadow/Li_


	7. Uncertain Future

**Broken Mirror Reflecting  
By: **_Shadow/Li_

Disclaimer: I don't own Ranma ½, only the plot ideas. And a few OC.

Summary: The spirit to be reincarnated as Tendo Kasumi turns out to be unavailable when it is called, so another is sent in her place. This soul, however, remembers everything of it's many past lives, a female otaku in the most recent. Armed with the knowledge of what the future of Nerima holds, she begins to plan for the future while trying to forget something in the past.

A/N: **I am not going to kill off Li Mein!** Where on earth did you get that idea? As for coupling him and my Kasumi… I don't know. That would just be weird, since I only put him in so Kasumi has an excuse to learn Chinese and understand the Amazons. I'll think about it. Maybe. I don't care about the 8-year difference; I know someone whose dad is 18 years older than their mom.

Shameless advertising, but if you like Harry Potter fanfiction, read my one-shot **River of Red**. You might enjoy it, and It's no longer than two chapters of this story.

-0-0- -0-0-

_Chapter Seven: Uncertain Future_

-0-0- -0-0-

Every Wednesday at Nerima Primary, the first and second grades had co-ed recess. There are three playgrounds for the younger children, two small and one the older kids shared. Classes 1-1 and 1-2 had lunch while 1-3 and 1-4 had recess on the smaller playgrounds (one for the boys, one for the girls) and vice-versa, usually, but today my class 1-1 shared the big playground with 1-2 of the girls and our boy class counterparts.

The girl's classes were named after flowers whereas the boys were named after colors. So classes 1-1 Lavender (Rabenda), 1-1 Aoi (Blue), 1-2 Sakura (Cherry Blossom), and 1-2 Akai (Red) would use the playground when classes 1-3 Bara (Rose), 1-3 Midori (Green), 1-4 Yuri (Lily) and 1-4 Oushoku (Yellow) had lunch.

"Isn't it exciting?" Kazemi-chan asked me, bouncing around the classroom. It was homeroom, and Shidou-sensei was currently busy grading papers.

Aoki-san, "Hmm." We were her friends, but she wasn't much of a talker, even when we tried. She was just a quiet type of person, I think.

"What is?" I asked over my book. Shidou-sensei had almost fainted when I'd asked her yesterday for something to read, something more advanced than the picture book she'd given me the first time.

"Shared recess!" Kazemi-chan exclaimed, fidgeting in her chair. She wanted to run around, probably dance, but couldn't while class was going on, even if the teacher was distracted.

"Sounds boring," Shino-san commented, practicing her hiragana. Shidou-sensei had passed out notebooks to work in the first day. "Besides, most boys are mean."

"Not all," Aoki-san said quietly. She rarely gave her opinion, so it took all our will power not to stare at her in stock or applaud cheer after hearing her talk.

"What'd you think, Kasumi-chan? Aren't boys weird and mean?" Shino-san appealed to me. Once you got to know her, she was outgoing and hotheaded, not cool and quiet like I'd first thought. She just needed friends to help brake away her shell.

"No. Li-kun's nice." I smiled. He was like a big brother and, like always, I pronounced his name correctly.

Shino-san pouted as our hyperactive friends cheered. "See? Kasumi-chan agrees with me!" She danced around in her seat, doing something almost impossible for someone without her energy supply.

"Some times you talk weird, Kasumi-chan," my desk-mate said, wrinkling her nose. "How can you agree with her?"

"Um…" I scratched the back of my neck nervously, fully aware of Aoki-san's scrutinizing gaze. Sometimes I felt like she could see right through me, like I could her. "I just don't think boys are mean and nasty, Shino-san. Maybe some can be sometimes, but not all."

"I told you to call me Katsuki-chan," Shino-san said, huffing.

"We've only known each other three days now, Shino-san," I reminded her. "It's not polite."

"You're my friend, Kasumi-chan," she said quietly, ignoring the shouts of the person sitting in the desk in front of her. "You call Kazemi-chan by her first name," she pointed out.

"Kazemi-chan is Kazemi-chan," I said with a smile. Our tomboy friend nodded in agreement, arms crossed, grinning widely. "Shino-san is Shino-san and Aoki-san is Aoki-san."

"Stop being so…like that!" Shino-san demanded.

I faked confusion. "Like that! It's annoying, don't you think, Kazemi-chan?" she asked the girl she'd previously ignored, wanting someone to agree with her.

"No," the girl said. Shino-san face-faulted, staring as Kazemi-chan continued to grin widely. "It's fun." She sounded like she was correcting someone.

"Yes," Aoki-san whispered in agreement. Two opinions in one conversation? Maybe we were helping her, too.

"Oh! Everyone's out to get me!" Shino-san moaned dramatically. Kazemi-chan laughed, Aoki-san silently chuckled, and I only smiled in amusement and went back to my book.

Shidou-sensei interrupted my friend's bickering as she began class, the first being math. "Attention everyone! Rise, bow, be seated!" We did as we were told, and I put my book away. Time for an annoying session of number that I already knew by heart.

Hopefully, this joint recess would come soon.

And it did. Too soon for my liking, I must say.

I was rocking on one of many swings, book in hand, when I felt the ground shaking. I bolted upright, glancing around to see what was going on. The tremor wasn't coming from the earth itself, but our school building instead.

A sweating teacher opened the door, and stood cautiously behind it. There was silence, even though the ground continued to shake. The calm before the storm, as it's said.

I could make out a faint cloud of dust at the end of the hallway. I squinted but couldn't make out what it was.

"Kazemi-chan," I addressed the friend swinging dangerously next to me, following her movements with my eyes. Back and forth, back and forth… "What's that?" I pointed.

She grinned. "Oh, that? Just watch!" She jumped from her swing and landed on the sand a few yards away.

Girls from class 1-2 Sakura began to clap enthusiastically and cheer. She continued to grin and danced around with them, spinning one girl until she had swirly-eyes. Kazemi-chan had quite the fan following her classes 1-2 through 1-4 because of her charm and energy.

Swung back, my head tipped so everything was up-side-down to look at my glower and silent friends behind me. "Do you know what's coming?" I asked Shino-san. I only continued to call her that because it annoyed her so much. I couldn't help but tease her, even if it wasn't usually something I like to do.

Shino-san muttered something.

"What was that, Shino-san?" I asked, pumping my legs in a steady but gentle rhythm.

"Something I don't like!" she exclaimed, temper showing. "And I told you not to call me Shino-san! It's Katsuki-chan! Katsuki!"

"Why are you calling your own name?" Yayoi-chan asked quietly. I stared at her in surprise. What'd gotten into her today? Not that I'm complaining, mind you.

"I'm not! I'm telling Kasumi," she pointed angrily at me as I just continued to smile, "to call me Katsuki-chan." She glared at me. "Now say it!"

"Katsuki-chan," I said, slowing my swinging so the book on my lap couldn't fall.

She blinked at me, thrown off course, not-quite-but-almost face-faulting. "Wh-what?"

"Katsuki-chan," I repeated, smiling in an arch-eyed way. "You told me to call you that, right, Shino-san?"

"Yes…" She recovered quickly. "Stop with the 'Shino-san'! Call me Katsuki-chan! Always Katsuki-chan!"

"Alright, Katsuki-san," I finally gave in. My joking was getting boring, anyway.

"Better," she said smugly, crossing her arms. She opened her mouth to say something else, but Kazemi-chan beat her to it.

"Kasumi-chan, they're here!" she said loudly in a sing-song voice, leaving her fans alone to rejoin to her friends.

"Who's coming?" I asked.

"The boys!" A pack of high-speed, dusty boys took that moment to burst through the door the teacher was wisely hiding behind.

The boys took off in all directions, having never been on the big playground before. They raced hear and there, taking over equipment that was both empty and had girls already playing on it. A few even went so far as to push a girl down. One skinned her knee and began crying.

A teacher came over and disciplined the boy and gave the girl a Band Aid, but that did nothing to appease Shino- Katsuki-chan's sudden temper.

She scowled at all of them, glaring at every boy that even thought to come toward them. Every one shrank away, and there were a few girls who came over to our dubbed 'boy-free zone'.

"Katsuki-chan." I stopped by swing and help my book with both hands. "I'll be going."

"Where?" she asked, not looking at me, instead glaring at a boy who was currently staring back.

"Over there." I pointed to a clump of trees between the jungle gym and the sandbox. It was the perfect reading stop as far as I was concerned, and I doubted anyone would bother me while they were exploring the new playground.

"Why?"

"It looks quieter there, and I'm not going to be a swing-hog." I got up from my seat, happily relinquishing it to another girl from class 1-2, who was staring at Katsuki-chan with wide, worshiping eyes.

"Oh…" She didn't have anything else to say, still engaged in her staring contest.

"I'll be back," I promised. "I just need to read a chapter." Or two, I added mentally.

Yayoi-san nodded to me. "Have fun."

I smiled. "I will."

Katsuki-chan sulked as she ignored me. Kazemi-chan was too busy being hyper with girls from the other class to notice our conversation.

"See ya!" I waved. They waved back.

The walked was short and crisp. I ignored everyone and they in turn ignored me. The trees and grass was, as I thought, a perfect place to read.

I sank down in the grass with a sigh. "So nice…" I opened my book and began to read.

I was so caught up in what I was reading that I didn't notice the presence of someone else until they were upon me and spoke. "What's so interesting?"

It was a boy from class 1-1; I could tell by the sticker on his shirt. "Oh, nothing much." I tucked my bookmark in the pages to save my stop. "Why are you over here?"

"The same reason as you, I guess." He showed me his own book with a laugh. "But I realized this place was already taken."

"There's room enough here for more than two readers," I said with a smile, patting the ground next to me. "Take a seat. I don't mind."

He smiled, too. "Thank you…"

"Tendo Kasumi," I introduced myself, still seated.

He sank down into the grass. "Sakaki Minoru. It's a pleasure to meet you, Tendo-san."

"The pleasure's mine, Sakaki-san." We shared a smile. "What're you reading?" I asked curiously, staring at his hardcover book.

He blushed. "Well…"

"No need to be embarrassed. Here, I'll tell you mine." I held up my book. "Cats in the Wild by Saito Isa," I read. "It's very interesting."

"Oh, alright then." He shyly held up his book. Classic Haiku for the Young Reader, the title read. "Poetry is…nice. Most people think it's girly…"

"What! Poetry isn't 'girly'! Samurai and noblemen were wrote beautiful poems and…" I realized he was laughing, and asked in confusion, "What's so funny?"

"You just seemed like such a quiet person," he gasped.

"Oh." I blushed. "Well…"

"I'm glad," he said. "Would you like to be friends, Tendo-san?"

"Sure," I agreed, and held out my hand. "I hope we'll be good friends, Sakaki-san." We shared another smile as he took my hand and agreed as well.

As soon as our hands touched, I felt the eyes on me again. Those eyes that I knew Sakaki-san couldn't feel.

"Is something wrong?" he asked me in concern as I suddenly tensed up.

"No," I said, making sure not to answer quickly. "Nothing at all. What do you think of Classical Japanese, Sakaki-san?"

His face lit up, and we began a lengthy discussion on how our classes differed. Never once, though, did I feel the eyes pull away.

I waved good bye to him as the recess bell rang, and joined my friends in our class line.

"Why were you talking to that boy? Why didn't you come back like you said you would?" Katsuki-chan demanded, hands on hips.

I smiled sheepishly. "We got into such a conversation…" I met her fiery gaze, still smiling. "I'm sorry, Katsuki-chan."

"You'd better be," she muttered. "I forgive you, though. Just don't go off and do it again."

"Katsuki-chan…" I didn't continue. I didn't know how. The eyes were still watching, though.

"What?" she snapped.

"Why do you hate boys so much?" I asked.

She colored, looking away. "I don't- I just don't like them, ok?" She turned away and ran to the front of the line.

I sighed and took a step forward as the teachers led us inside. Not paying attention, I stumbled on the steps.

Yayoi-san caught me before I fell and whispered to me, "Be careful."

I nodded and answered, "I will."

She went ahead of me, and I followed her in.

I haven't been given a warning like that since Lord Aiden was still alive, and with him his sister and my good friend who later betrayed me… Come to think of it, those watching eyes feel like _her_, at least a little. She'd be a boy this time, though…

I forgot what I was thinking as class started and the eyes pulled away.

Kazemi-chan disrupted our learning and I sat back and mentally laughed in joy, finally feeling at home somewhere beside's my own house and Mio-chan's company.

'_What a nice life,_' I thought, and wished it could always be like this.

-0-0- -0-0-

At dinner that evening, I sat across from otou-sama, who loved to read the paper even though it got him malleted by his wife more than once for not paying attention to her talking.

Today, though, I decided to test what I'd been teaching myself for years: how to read kanji. What better way then to read a newspaper?

On the front page, in bold letters, read the title: **Merger Confirmed**. It sounded as interesting as anything else (which basically meant that most else was pop-star scandals and who important had died or such-and-such politician had made such-and-such a mistake).

The article read:

**Merger Confirmed**

**In recent years, the demand for bodyguards has decreased by roughly  
25. The Haruno Corp., a specializing in female soldiers and undercover  
agents, is only one of numerous casualties. A merger agreement has been  
struck with Uchiha Inc., a leading producer of outstandingly qualified  
bodyguards which branched from Konohagakure just five years ago.  
A clause in the agreement states that all employees with be kept on  
payroll until their abilities have been evaluated. Haruno Corp. will now  
be called Keiko Branch when this merger is legally complete, named  
for Uchiha Inc.'s very own CEO's wife…_cont. in C4_**

Oh…'k… Stay calm. You just read an article about **Naruto** characters, but don't panic. Now you know what kind of possibilities could be here. And if the Uchiha and Haruno and Konohagakure exist here as companies, so do the other villages and Clans.

Oh, no… Orochimaru and Akatsuki, villains in the story from my world that are after the main character and his teammate. That are ninjas.

Wait. Ninjas. Think about ninja and their tools… Shuriken, the throwing stars and kunai, their knives and exploding tags and haite-ate, their forehead protector…

Man, I think I'm hyperventilating. Alright, head on my arms on the table, take deep breathes… Think calming thought, not about demons and foxes and the Kyuubi stuck in side Naruto…

Would Kyuubi exist as a demon fox here? For all I know, he could be human, and related to Naruto! That's what fan fictions of the 'real world' stories always said. Oh, I hope not!

Alright… I need to concentrate on something else. Oh, oka-sama's talking on the phone. When'd she get up and leave Akane-chan to feed herself?

Concentrate on my mother's voice; no thoughts of ninjas and whatnot, just my mother's voice.

"Yes, Mother, I know," oka-sama was say irritably into the phone, speaking in English. Oh, she was talk to Grandmother, who lived in the United States with her husband. They liked to travel, mother has said. I wonder where they are now.

"No, I do care that Father's in the hospital, but I can't up and leave to come over there. No, my husband isn't forcing me to stay… I have three little girls, mother… So? Yes, I know. Yes. Yes. Just do as the doctors say and I'm sure he'll be fine… No, it's my own decision." Oka-sama listened to her mother talk for a moment, and I could faintly hear another voice, female, talking loudly on the other end.

"Kasumi-chan, Nabiki-chan, and Akane-chan are fine, mother. Give my best to father. Yes, I'll call you soon. Bye." She hung up hurriedly, sighing in relief. "Honestly, that woman…"

Oka-sama looked worn and tired and… worried.

Ojii-sama was in the hospital? What'd happened? I wanted to ask, but I knew that would be suspicious, and mother didn't seem like she'd take kindly to anymore stress tonight.

Oka-sama knelt at her seat by the rice cooker as if she hadn't just talked to her mother, a draining experience it seemed. She fed a giggling Akane and wiped Nabiki's chin (she was a messy eater, even at almost-three).

Turning to her husband, she asked with a smile that I could tell pained her, "Would you like a more rice, dear?"

Otou-sama looked up from the paper he was still reading. "Yes, thank you, dearest." His bowl exchanged hands.

They would most likely talk in the privacy of their own bedroom tonight, and she'd be comforted in a way I didn't want to know about. Stupid Truth Vision, giving me past examples!

I stared in front of me and got an eye full of the newspaper article that now mocked me with its words. Uchiha, Haruno, Konohagakure. Naruto, ninja, anime.

Is this a crossover or something?

Just thinking about it made me want to faint. Oh, Kami-sama help me; make it so I don't have to deal with too much at once!

-0-0- -0-0-

Things calmed down in my mind, and I wasn't too worried about other characters from various anime I'd read or heard of popping up and demanding something.

I was happy, really, when that night, I dreamed in my mindscape. I only did that when Shin wanted to talk, or else I won't give my mind the rest it needed.

"Yo, Shin-chan!" I said cheekily, smiling up at him as he glided around the forest I'd decided on today. "How's it going?"

"Fine." He glared down at me, arms crossed as he glowered. "And don't '–chan' me; it's annoying."

"What ever you say," I said with a smile, fully intent on using that suffix just to annoy him. "We have to talk, you know."

"About what?" he asked nonchalantly. He lay suspended in the air, looking for all the world as if he was resting in an invisible hammock, buffing his nail on his not-so-transparent shirt.

"I feel like I'm being watched, Shin," I said seriously. "I have been for a while."

"How long?" he asked, catching my mood. He floated down, almost standing but still not touching the ground. For some reason, he hated landing on anything but a tree branch, and then only sitting at best.

"A long time. I thought it would pass, because it could've been a curious spirit or something, but…" I sighed. "I felt it this afternoon. I'm sure it's the same person as the other time; they feel the same, at least."

"Hmm…" His expression turned thoughtful, and he tapped his chin with a finger. "Can't be that. The wards I tied to you can only be released by my personal assistant or myself, and to see through it even a bit would take a ton of concentrated power, and I don't think anyone would waste all that on you." He smirked.

"Yeah, thanks," I murmured dryly, thoughts racing. "Could it be your 'personal assistant' spying on the competition?" I wondered aloud.

Shin stared at me strangely, as if I was nuts, which, if I am, is his fault entirely.

"Why would she do that? Besides, she's busy at the office." He shrugged. I stared.

"You have an office?" Surprising, really. "I bet she does all your work while you fool around."

He raised his hand to his chest in mock-hurt. "Why would you think so horribly of me?" I gave him a look. "Ok, so she does most of the work. But I only have the position because she didn't want it.

"As for her watching you, she'd better not. I hand my reports to her and she hands them into her mo- the big boss." He shrugged and muttered, "She's a weird one, that Hareru."

I moved back to the subject in question. "Then who could be watching me, or my family?"

Shin seemed troubled. "Maybe someone from another world? No, that wouldn't make sense…"

"What would, then?" I crossed my arms. "There are people from places I've read about here, you know. I just found out today. Why didn't you tell me?"

He glanced at me, expression suddenly hard. "Has it occurred to you that I might not know what you know? Everyone here has more than one counterpart in another universe, not just in this system. I don't know what ones appeared as fictional stories in your world, so how would I tell you?"

"I-" I stared at the floor, ashamed. "I'm sorry…" my voice was a whisper.

"I know you are," he said, voice still hard but gentler than his snapping before. "Just remember, you're here for a reason." His face turned from scowling to thoughtful as he went back to our original subject. "Who could be spying on you, though?"

'_What does he mean, "…you're here for a reason"? I know there has to be a reason for _me_ of all people to be reincarnated as Tendo Kasumi, but…_'

I tensed. A question suddenly came to mind, but I didn't know how to work it into our current conversation. So I just went for it.

"Why am I here, Shin?" I asked suddenly, hoping to catch him off guard.

He was silent, eyes downcast. I couldn't see his face, so I pushed forward.

"Please, answer me." I didn't want to plead, but…

"I can't tell you… It's not my place," he said, finally, voice a whisper.

"Who can, then?"

"Why do you want to know, Kasumi-chan?" He avoided answering.

"Because I have a right to." I stared hard at him, eyes filled with determination.

He met my eyes pleadingly, then looked away again, lips tight. "Fine. Call someone when you think you're ready." He turned away, and I knew he was going to disappear.

"What do you mean, call?" I suddenly had the sinking feeling that I'd done something wrong, like hurt his feelings, though I don't know how.

"You know what I mean," he stated flatly, not looking at me. "Or, at least, she does." He pointed behind me, still looking away.

I turned to look, stopped and stared. A girl, no, woman, stood there in my mind, smiling slightly. She was the slitting image of me in my last life, and had the same calm expression, though her eyes were a different color.

They were like Shin's, a vibrant green-blue that I couldn't really describe.

Speaking of Shin, I turned around and he'd gone from my mind. That-that jerk! I clenched my fists. How could he leave without saying good bye?

"Don't curse him, Kasumi," the woman said, her voice, like her eyes, much different than my past ones. "You said some very mean things to him. You are at fault, more so than he, for chasing him away."

"What'd you mean?" I demanded, scowling at myself. Man, this is disorienting! I hope other forms of my past selves don't start showing up, or this'll turn into a debate hall.

My former self laughed. "No one else will come. I only exist here because I am what you cannot be."

"Huh?" I stared at her in confusion. "Please explain."

"You are a child," she said simply. "It's not your fault."

I growled at her. "Stop talking in riddles and what not and explain things!" Maybe, at one point I would understand what she meant, but not right not.

Her smile never faltered. "I am what you cannot be. You are a child, though in no fault of your own. You have a child's mind and emotions, with an adult's sense of logic. I exist only to hold what you yet cannot, not until you grow old enough to take it in again."

"Oh." That made sense, in an admittedly twisted way. "So, you're saying that you know all the stuff I can't handle right now because my body and metal captivity are that of a five year old, even with my adult logic?"

She nodded, pleased. "Yes."

"OK. That makes sense, I guess." I sighed. "So, are you going to act as that annoying little voice in the back of my head that's always right?"

"No," she said simply, still smiling.

I face-faulted and it hurt. "Why not? I could use the help, as you well know."

"I know. You would like advice for your planning and such, yes? But I won't help you, not even on ways to avoid Kazemi-chan." She smiled dreamily. "She's such a cutie!"

I sweatdropped. Did I mention, that back then, I loved cute things more than anything else save manga? Why do you think I was best friends with that cute little naïve brat Bijin, who's trusting nature got me killed? (See the first part of the first chapter if you don't understand.)

"Don't go pulling a Tomoyo-chan on me. Kazemi-chan's nothing like Sakura-chan, anyway," I named two characters from CLAMP's Card Captor Sakura, one obsessed with video taping the other because she was so cute.

"Aaaah!" my other self complained, pouting. Was I always so cute? Luckily, puppy-pouts from myself have never worked on me.

"Is there anything else?" I asked, twitching a bit but at peace with myself once I again. I'd forgotten to, as Kakashi-sensei from Naruto says, look underneath the underneath.

I know now how I hurt Shin-kun. I made him feel useless, and think that I was ungrateful at this second chance, which I'm not. Far from it, in fact. I've decided to apologize to him when I see him next, though I still don't understand what he meant by "call when you're ready".

"That's good," she said absently. I forgot, she can read my thoughts. Not so odd, since she is me. "No, nothing else. I'm just glad you remembered, and I hope you never forget again."

"Ai," I agreed. "I'm off, then. Consciousness beckons." I waved at her, black at the edge of my vision.

"Ja ne, Kasumi," she said. "We call you as you are, now," she answered my unspoken question.

"See ya!" I said cheerfully, smiling even though I was blind to my mind stake now. "Don't do any redecorating without consulting that squirrels first," I jokingly said. There was this online joke that squirrels lived in people's brains and made them crazy.

"I won't do anything," she said softly, "but watch."

-0-0- -0-0-

Five months have passed and I've yet to see Shin again. When I do dream in my mind, which is usually once, and sometimes twice, a week, my other self and I talk about nothing and everything. I've slowly understanding things again; things that I used to know and still do, but can't make sense of because of my body's age.

School's been boring, but fun with my friends. Aoki-san, Yayoi-san I mean, invited all of us over to her house. It was an…enlightening experience, but really, really weird, too. Let's just say, dreams aren't normal when in an unfamiliar house.

My family hasn't changed, though obaa-sama has been calling oka-sama more and more often lately. Ojii-sama has been getting worse, from what I've overheard, and mother's been worried, even if she doesn't like to show it.

Nabiki-chan and Akane-chan had festive birthday parties in February and April, inviting their neighborhood friends and the kids of our parent's friends over. They both got tones of presents, and their room is even more cluttered than ever.

When Nabiki-chan refused to clean her toys up, she found out the hard way about oka-sama's time-out corner. I've never been in it, and neither has Akane-chan; she's hardly in her room, spending all her time following either of our parents around like her sisters did when we were younger.

The cherry blossoms are beautiful, though I have yet to see a corpse buried under one. I've looked with my Truth Vision and seen only what was there to everyone else: dirt and roots.

We had a picnic in the park at the end of April. It looked like it was raining petals, like in anime scene effects, as we sat and enjoyed the view. Come to think of it, that was one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen, and now a precious memory to me.

I'm calm. I think my peace has something to do with my talks with my other self. It feels as if we are becoming one again, but that can't be right…

Hate to say it, but I really miss Shin. He's the only one I could talk to about, well, everything that's happened, and now I have to keep my troubles to my self –or selves.

Where is he! I've searched for the 'calling' for the last few months, tried everything I could think of, and yet still he hasn't come.

The shrill ringing of the phone snapped to back to reality.

'_Must be obaa-sama,_' I thought as oka-sama raced towards it, abandoning her sewing. '_She's probably calling about ojii-sama's condition._' He'd gotten worse in the last few days, and oka-sama has been worried sick. Not even otou-sama can calm her down.

"Moshi-moshi," oka-sama said in English, a little breathless. "Yes. Mother, what's wrong?" I could hear someone crying on the other end. "Mother?" Kumiko was frantic with worry.

I stood up, making my expression curious and concerned. Otou-sama and Akane were training; Nabiki was taking a nap. I was the only one around.

I tugged at oka-sama's sleeve, interrupting her conversation with my grandmother. "Is something wrong, oka-sama?"

She didn't respond, but sank to the floor clutching the phone in a white knuckled grip. Obaa-sama must've told her something. Was ojii-sama hurt worse, or…?

No. Please, no, not when I haven't even met him yet!

I tried to get a response out of oka-sama again, but she was numb from shock, staring into space with vacant eyes. I felt panic welling up in my chest, but I took deep breathes and quelled it.

Since my mother wasn't responding, and I had to do something, I did the only thing that came to mind: talk to the source.

"Oka-sama," I whispered, gently stroking her hands. "Can I talk to obaa-sama, oka-sama?" I was speaking in Japanese, as not to be suspicious.

Kumiko nodded numbly, not thinking straight. It seemed like what she'd heard was floating around and around in her head.

I knew this wasn't something a normal girl would do. Any real five year old would go running for an adult, but then, I'm not a normal kid, now am I?

I gently pried the phone from oka-sama's fingers, and put it to my ear, only to hear a frantic, horse voice speaking in English. "Kumi-chan! Kumi-chan, are you alright? Speak to me!" That must be my mother's mother. Her voice would've been pleasant, if she hadn't been crying so much.

I took a moment to project the emotions I needed, so worry and confusion would be heard in my voice. "Sumimasen. (I'm sorry. Excuse me.) Wakadimasen. (I don't understand.)" I took a deep breath, and spoke again, all in Japanese. "Who is this?"

Obaa-sama made a confused noise, but spoke in the same language. "I should be asking you that. Where's Kumi-chan? Is she alright?" I guess she didn't hear a child when I spoke.

"Who is Kumi-chan?" I asked. "I don't know 'Kumi-chan'."

"Kumi-chan! Kumi-chan! The woman I was just talking to!" she said franticly.

"Kumi-chan is oka-sama?" I asked in what I hoped was a childish way. "Oka-sama is taking a nap. She just suddenly fell down."

"She fainted?" I picked up dry amusement in her voice.

"What's fainted?" I asked, keeping up my role but trying to make it as easy as I could for her, even if I could make it fun, if you know what I mean.

"Oh… Are you Kasumi-chan?" she guessed.

"Yes!" I said proudly. "Are you oka-sama's friend? What made oka-sama do 'faint'?"

"I'm your mother's mother." She sounded tired and worn. I felt sympathy for her; she must've had a very hard day.

"Obaa-sama?" I asked. "I've never talked to obaa-sama."

"Well, you are now, kid," she said. "Anyway, when your mother wakes up, will you tell her something for me?"

I nodded, and then realized she couldn't see me. "Hai!" I said enthusiastically, blushing a bit.

"Tell your mother that I'll be in Japan soon."

"Why?" I asked her.

"I…I have a favor I need to do for someone very close to me, Kasumi-chan. Now, do you promise to tell your mother?" She was talking about cremating her husband and adding his name to his family's grave.

"I promise," I said, still pretending to be excited.

"Bye, Kasumi-chan."

"Bye, obaa-sama."

Before she could hang up, I couldn't help but want to reassure her, so I took a risk.

"Obaa-sama." My tone was that only an adult was able to use, but I don't think she noticed, in the state she was in.

"Yes?" She wanted to go, wanted to sleep and not have to deal with anything else this day.

"Death isn't the end, obaa-sama. Please, remember what good things you can…Goodbye." I hung up.

The hall's silence was deafening. I couldn't here the people on the streets, or the cars a block away, or Nabiki-chan's soft breathing, or even otou-sama and Akane-chan training. All there was around was the hall's silence and my own thoughts.

I had to force a smile when oka-sama became coherent again, the gloom having affected me more than I wanted it to. But I didn't anticipate her reaction when I told her obaa-sama was coming to Japan.

She fainted again, and there was nothing I could do.

'_Please, Shin, come back,_' I called in my mind, hoping he could hear me. '_I… need you…_'

-0-0- -0-0-

A/N: Chapters are coming later. Sorry, things in the real world have just been a little hectic lately. Chapter 8 is one I've been looking forward to righting. After all, Kuni the Grandmother finally arrives!

Next chapter: Vote: Chapter 8 or an Interlude on what happened the 5 months I skipped, including a trip to Aoki Yayoi's house, and her family 'secret'. Chapter 8 has the Grandmother finally arriving, and staying. Covers three months.

'Til next time!  
_Sister Shadow/Li_


	8. Interlude: Progress

**Broken Mirror Reflecting  
By: **_Shadow/Li _

Disclaimer: I don't own Ranma ½, only the plot ideas. And a few OC.

Summary: The spirit to be reincarnated as Tendo Kasumi turns out to be unavailable when it is called, so another is sent in her place. This soul, however, remembers everything of it's many past lives, a female otaku in the most recent. Armed with the knowledge of what the future of Nerima holds, she begins to plan for the future while trying to forget something in the past.

Crossovers: Characters: Naruto

A/N: Sorry it took so long! Here's the first interlude about the time Kasumi and her friends slept over at Aoki-san's house.

-0-0- -0-0-

_Interlude One: Progress _

-0-0- -0-0-

It was cooled, rainy and wet, but we still had to go to school. Kazemi-chan, unsurprisingly, came in soaked. The rest of us had people to either drive or walk with us using the ingenious invention of umbrella, which she seemed to have forgotten.

Li Mein and I were first, sharing an umbrella, the same time as Shino-san was dropped off with Nishihara-san, her strict maid/nurse/servant. Her face was as blank as the day I'd first seen her.

"Good morning, Shino-san," I said politely. Something about the way she held herself, with Nishihara-san behind her, gave me the urge to bow politely, though I refrained from doing so. That would just be too odd.

"Good morning, Kasumi-san, Okamura-san," she replied absently, keeping both her eyes and face blank. Her servant gave us an once-over, wrinkling her nose a bit at Kazemi-chan, but nodded in acknowledgment.

"Hiya, Katsuki-chan!" My blue haired friend was as hyper as ever, and oblivious to the kimono-clad woman's glare. She caught sight of Nishihara-san, and asked, "What's your name? I'm Okamura Kazemi, written as-"

"Kazemi-chan," I said, grabbing her arm. She turned her attention to me, all smiles. It was rare that I actually touched someone on my own, and I bet she didn't mind. Attention was attention, either way. "Did you do the homework?"

Behind me, the silent Li Mein shook off our umbrella. I could tell he was listening, but he didn't show it, not even in his unconscious body language. A true martial artist is always in control, as otou-sama says.

She nodded enthusiastically and answered my rushed, change-the-subject-and-take-attention-way-from-the-annoyed-and-glaring-woman question. "Yes! You mean the math, ne? It was haard! But oka-chan helped me. What did you get for #7, 'cause I think I got that one wrong...?"

I half listened to her, fully aware of the hard gaze on us. From the corner of my eyes, I saw Nishihara-san whispering heatedly to Shino-san, whose aura was screaming discomfort and repressed anger.

"Do you think its 8, Kasumi-chan, or 9? I didn't understand all that well..." Kazemi-chan was saying when I started listening again. It's hard to ignore someone staring so intently at you close by, but I tried.

"Kasumi-san," Li Mein said to me, his usual smile in place. Before, he'd been too quiet for Nishihara-san to notice, but now he had her full attention. "Shouldn't you be going to class?"

I gasped, making my eyes wide as I glanced at the clock above his head. "You're right! We only have ten minutes!" I grabbed Kazemi-chan's wrist (touching again) and led her toward 1-1's room.

Shino-san followed, walk graceful and controlled, without her attentive servant.

Her face was pale when we entered our classroom, and she was gasping, as if just done with a relay race.

I stared, worried. "Are you all right, Shino-san?"

"Yeah. Are you OK, Katsuki-chan? You're pale and sweating. Otou-sama looks like that when his boss calls. At least, I think it's his boss..." She trailed off, not lost in thought but worried about our friend. She leaned closer, peering at Shino-san's face, close enough to bump foreheads and check for a fever.

"She feels OK," Kazemi-chan told me when Shino-san remained unresponsive. "You think she's just tired?"

"Possibly..." was my answer as I used my Truth Vision. Her reaction was caused by emotional stress she was having trouble dealing with. Nothing serious, but enough to make me worry. She's my -our- friend, and if anything upsets her, we have to help right it. That's what friends do, after all.

"I-I'm alright," Shino-san stammered, releasing the strangle hold she'd had on the door.

"Are you sure?" We followed her to the back, where our shared desks were, still concerned.

"Yes," she snapped, though it lacked any bite. She was worn out before the day had even begun. "I'm fine."

I let it drop for the time being, but had every intention of keeping a close eye on her until she really was back to normal. Kazemi-chan, I knew, had the exact same idea.

"If you say so." I sat next to her, forcing myself to say nothing when Shino-san forced herself to stay upright, posture perfect, and not collapse like she wanted to.

Shidou-sensei, who'd been in the Teacher's Lounge talking to another teacher, came in carrying a bunch of papers. She set them on her desk with a grunt and a sigh, then surveyed the room, smiling warmly when she saw me.

"Kasumi-chan!" she called. "Come and talk to me!"

I smiled as brightly as I could and stood, my attention on Shino-san. People, I assumed, called me 'teacher's pet' on more than one occasion because I helped sensei in any way I could. I saw it as my duty as Class Representative (since for that, all I had to do was show up at the Lower Primary Student Council meets once a week), but to others it appeared that I sucked up to the teacher.

"Hai, Shidou-sensei." I said with a backward glance at my tense friend. As I walked past Kazemi-chan, I whispered to her, "Please keep a close eye on Shino-san. She looks exhausted."

My usually hyper friend nodded, smiling her secret smile that would've scared or worried anyone but me. Knowing what I did, it didn't. "I will, Kasumi-chan," she said, her voice as quiet as mine. "I will."

Nodding in satisfaction, I went to see what our teacher wanted from me.

-0-0-0-0-

"What is the matter with Shino Katsuki-san?" Aoki-san asked me in our last class, which was a four-person group activity. She sat next to me and asked while the one in question was distracted by Kazemi-chan, who was indeed watching over her.

I sighed and sat my project on the table. Shino-san had been absentminded and hardly responsive all day. Even in recess, when she normally played with us and gave Kazemi-chan a run for her money in the energy department, she was passive and chose to sit at the sidelines, possibly thinking. Shidou-sensei, as well as the rest of us, were worried sick.

"I-" I began. "I don't know, but..." '_I'm worried,_' I thought to say, but knew I didn't need to.

Aoki-san said nothing, just stared at the chair across from me that seated Shino-san, who wasn't even trying to pay us any attention. She twirled her pen in absent circles on the paper, eyes fixed on the open air above my shoulder.

"Emotions." It was a statement -a fact- that the daughter of a dangerous man said. "What are your thoughts?" She had a direct, polite, yet vague way of speaking when she spoke more than three words.

"Um..." I didn't know what to say. Act as a concerned friend and still try to be a normal first grader, or like the original Kasumi? As always, my final decision was obvious: wing it.

"Yes?" Aoki-san prompted, unusually assertive.

I spoke seriously, meeting my friend's clear, beautiful eyes (I couldn't describe the color even if I had a month to think). "Family problems, I think. Shino-san started acting strange when her nurse -I assumed that was her relation- came in with her this morning. She usually gets dropped off." I told her this because she was one of the last ones to arrive in class, while Shino-san and I were often first.

Sighing, I continued our whispered conversation. (Not that the one in discussion would process our words if she did hear them.) "Distant, lost in thought, unresponsive- whatever you want to call it. Shino-san appears to be both distracted and undeceive about something, and it's causing her undue stress.

"What can we do to help?"

At least, I would've said that last if I was my old self, or in a bigger body. Instead I said, "I think she's thinking too much."

Aoki-san nodded in agreement. "She is." A statement. "If she is thinking so much, something must be wrong."

I inclined my head a little in agreement, arms at my sides, eyes closed in thought.  
"What can we do to help?"

"Cheer her up, of course!" Kazemi-chan said in my ear, not too loudly but still almost deafening.

I almost jumped out of my chair, staring at her with wide eyes. Aoki-san stared too, face blank, but her heighten heart-rate and pulsing aura revealed to me that she was startled half to death as well. Looks like she wasn't as all knowing-seeing as I'd come to think, what with her vague hints of what she'd observed and my surprising trouble reading her too deeply.

Kazemi-chan had a hand on both our shoulders, her face leaning in close enough that I could feel her breath on my cheek. I could feel her grin; I didn't dare turn my head or I might head butt her accidentally.

I guess our loud friend had improved her ninja-like skills. I'm sure I've improved my sixth sense because of her, and I thought I could pick up even Kazemi-chan within ten feet. Guess not.

Sigh.

Well, if she's improved, I'll have to too. Looks like more mediation and long talks with the Past-Other me await me in the future.

"How do we do that, though?" I asked when my heart and Aoki-san's had calmed down somewhat. "We don't know what the problem is, let alone how to fix it for her."

Kazemi-chan tisked me, leaning in so her mouth was next to my ear. "Think small, Kasumi-chan. We can deal with bigger things later. Right now, our first priority is to wake Katsuki-chan up."

Aoki-san nodded. I did too, knowing what she meant.

'_Live the life given to you aware of all around you. You never know when things might be taken away._' one of my friends said about four lives ago. She later betrayed me, but that's beside that point.

"You're the expert on cheering people up, Kazemi-chan," I told her as she pulled back and the three of us huddled. I seemed to be the only one aware that almost everyone else's attention was on us. "What do we do, Captain?"

I needed to tease someone, since Shino-san was out of the question.

Kazemi-chan had the grace to blush. Not quiet scarlet, but close enough. "I... don't really know..." From sneaky to bashful in the space of a few seconds. Is that a record? I think so.

I hope you don't find my commentary annoying. I just don't know what else to do!

You know those situations that you think about and think about until your brain feels like mush and you still don't have any good ideas but once you get home, collapse from exhaustion and finally relax it just comes to you because you weren't forcing it? This is one of those problems.

Deep breaths...relax...

Ah! Light bulb time!

"What don't we stay together awhile? After school, for instance?" I asked, leaving my reasons unsaid. 'We could watch her a while, maybe see what's wrong. Our company would help, if it's a family thing;' and so much more.

"Good idea, Kasumi-chan!" Kazemi-chan exclaimed, hugging me around the shoulders. While not clingy, she liked to initiate physical contact a lot. At least her hugs weren't as bone braking as the ones Shino-san gave as a thank you.

Hopefully, when this turn of events is over, that will be the top of my mundane things to worry about.

"Where?" was what I assumed to be Aoki-san's last word of the day. She'd spoken more in this conversation than she usually did to any one of us in a week.

"Uh..." I scratched my chin in thought, but couldn't think of any place. "I don't know."

Kazemi-chan sweat dropped. "I dunno either. And it's such a good idea..." We both stared at the floor glumly, trying to think of something, anything, that would make my suggestion work.

Aoki-san surprised us by speaking again, normal guarded and inexpressive eyes filled with determination. "Leave everything to me."

We stared at her dumbly, numb with shock, as she went back to her project as if she hadn't just shone us a side of herself that we'd never known her to possess.

I'm sure one of us would have said something, even if it was unintelligent and more gaping than speaking, but Shidou-sensei interrupted us. She gave her closing lecture as we righted the desks, Shino-san still as distant as she'd been all day.

"Good job, class. Your projects will be hung on the bulletin board in the hallway." The girls cheered in excitement, making our teacher smile warmly. "Class dismissed!"

"Rise! Bow! Be seated!" We did as we were instructed because it was only in second grade and higher that the class rep. (a.k.a. me) said to do so. Instead it was Shidou-sensei's intern who did so, one Otonashi Reika-san, a twenty-one year old fresh out of college. (I've heard her last name before somewhere, too.)

As class was over, we all usually went our separate ways: Kazemi-chan home immediately, Shino-san and Aoki-san to the front to wait for their rides, and myself leaving with Li-kun after I helped clean the classroom.

But today wasn't a usual day, and we all had cleaning duty, which was four students assigned in weekly rotations to clean the chalkboard, empty the trash, and so on. I volunteered to help, since it was as boring at home as it was during classes when everyone was busy. I much prefer physical labor to sitting around doing nothing or watching kiddy shows that I'm fast assuming want to brain wash the next generation to be loyal minions and take over the world in their mascot's name.

I clapped the erasers out the window, creating puffs of smoke (I was the only one it didn't make sneeze and cough) while Kazemi-chan was making a game out of whipping off the chalkboard with Aoki-san. Shino-san stared off into the distance, the garbage bag in her hands limp. She was halfway done, but somewhere along the line had floated into limbo again.

I wanted to talk to her, but what would I say? Could I even comfort her without her snapping at me when she was back to normal? Admittedly, it would be much of a relief to see her angry again.

Sighing, I whipped the last of the chalk dust off the erasers and turned back inside. Shidou-sensei was standing in the doorway watching us, trying to get Aoki-san's attention without calling attention to herself. Unfortunately, her plan hadn't worked.

"Yayoi-chan," she said to my black clad friend. "Your father is here."

Aoki-san nodded and put down her wiper. Before she followed our teacher out the door, she caught my eye.

Some people who are on the same wavelength can share a lot in one glance. I don't know if it's that way for Aoki-san and I, but I suddenly knew what she was planning, and approved.

I nodded my head in respect, and absently continued my chores. I couldn't wait for her return; the silence, even with Kazemi-chan's failed attempts at conversation with an inattentive audience, was sapping my concentration and tempting my mind to wander.

Aoki-san and her father, the other Aoki-san, entered the room with silent grace that I envied only a little. Growing up in a family centered around martial arts on one side and untold things on the other, I was both used to their body language to the point of familiarity and fascinated by it.

"Tendo-san, Okamura-san and Shino-san; we would like to talk with you and your guardians," the father began. I didn't know what to call him, because Aoki-sama sounded too formal, even to me, and Aoki-kun would be more than disrespectful. I couldn't very well call my friend by her first name; she'd never given me permission to.

"What is going on?" I asked, the picture of a confused and concerned little girl. I placed the erasers on a nearby desktop and went to stand by Shino-san (who was finally paying attention), meeting the man's eyes through his tinted sunglasses.

He smiled. Even though it was only a slight upturn of the lips, barely more than a twitch, I caught it. I wanted to smile, too, but that would be uncalled for, and he might take it for a threat or invitation to play mind games or something.

He was a dangerous man, after all.

They're a matching pairing, Aoki-san and her father. I wonder what her mother was like.

And over the next few hours, throughout conversations and phone calls, I was going to find out.

To execute my idea effectively, we needed a place to hang out. What better place than one of our houses? Aoki-san had thought. Kazemi-chan was out of the question; who knew what her place/parents were like. My house was optional, but ruled out in our friends mind by remembering our first conversation. Shino-san's own house? We all knew she didn't want to go back there.

So that left only one: the Aoki Clan residence, the daughter of a dangerous man's house that was bound to be full of mysteries.

And what a big house it was.

-0-0-0-0-

As had become a bit of tradition in our family, oka-sama asked Li Mein to walk me over to Aoki-san's house after school the next day. It was Friday, and still raining, but we had different umbrellas this time. Li-kun carried my duffel bag, and I was surprised that neither he nor my sleep over things got wet.

During school, my classmates swarmed around the four of us, wondering why we were carrying such full bag. Some of the girls even glared at us during recess when we answered honestly that yes, Kazemi-chan was coming too. Shidou-sensei scolded them, though, when they started throwing notes at us.

I was excited. Not since I was twelve in my last life had I been to a sleep over, and the last hadn't been much of one, either. You can only watch the Scary Movies so many times before they lose their stupid-yet-hilarious appeal, after all.

Aoki-san's father didn't pick her up; a woman in similar clothing did. Li-kun and Nishihara-san stood with us as we waited, Shidou-sensei fluttering around in the background, not sure whether to join us or not.

The woman introduced herself as my friend's aunt, Aoki Yuri-san, and said that she was here to drive us to Aoki-san's home.

Nishihara-san stared at her reproachfully, her hand never leaving the impassive (as always in the stern woman's presence) Shino-san's shoulder. "There are seven of us (not including the driver). There is no car big enough."

"Yes, madam, there is," Aoki Yuri-san said with a smile, and we followed her out the door.

Kazemi-chan, hyper as always, danced around us, clutching her warn bag. "We're going to Katsu-chan's house! We're going to Katsumi's house!" she sang. I grinned as I noticed the older Aoki-san's amusement. The adults in there family were cold to others, but no emotion can hide from me now.

Well, maybe someone with almost complete control, an elder from a martial arts family for example (that aren't like Happosai or Cologne), could, but not anyone else.

I admit that my Truth Vision is a little annoying at times, but it's extremely useful too. I can't see ghosts, of course, but I can see wisps of air where they might be.

Come to think of it, in the Furiken School Store episodes, Kasumi could see and sense the spirit quite clearly. I can understand that martial artists like Ranma, Akane, and Ukyou could, with their ki sense and all, but the normal daughters Kasumi and Nabiki? I wonder...

Kazemi-chan shouted in glee, snapping me out of my thoughts. The car before us could indeed hold seven people; it was a limo. A very big, black, tinted-windowed limo.

I whistled in awe, an American habit for sure, but everyone was too busy staring to notice. Everyone save the older Aoki, who smiled at me politely when I returned her gaze. I just blinked as she glanced away and opened the door for Shino-san.

Shino-san, hurrying to get away from her servant but graceful doing so, climbed in first, followed by an enthusiastic Kazemi-chan and a purse-lipped Nishihara-san. Aoki Yuri-san closed the door with a satisfied bang.

Li Mein climbed in after Aoki-san silently did, who'd traded a knowing glance with her aunt. I knitted my brows when the twenty-something woman made no move to follow him.

"Where are you going to sit, Aoki-san?" I asked politely, standing straight and tall, like oka-sama had taught me.

Her aura flashed amusement, though her tinted sunglasses shaded her eyes and her expression was otherwise too blank to tell anything. Even her voice was emotionless when talking to a child. "I am the driver," she said simply. She didn't know what to call me, it seemed.

"Kasumi-san?" Li-kun asked from inside our ride. I took one glance back at Aoki-san the older and climbed inside with a polite nod to her. Bowing just didn't seem right.

As we pulled out, Kazemi-chan still singing, Nishihara-san still frowning, Shino-san still tense, and Aoki-san silent as the grave, Li-kun was the only truly comforting presence.

As if sensing my unease, he took my small hand in his and smiled reassuringly. I returned his smile with a bright one of his own.

The only thing I wanted to know was: How did they fit this limo in such a small street and steer it back onto a main one?

-0-0-0-0-

The ride was a surprisingly short one. No one spoke much; even Kazemi-chan stopped singing and tried to engage Shino-san in conversation. She said enough for two people, though, and made up truly for our tense friend's lack of response.

When we stopped at what I assumed was the Aoki residence (I was too short to see through the tinted windows), Kazemi-chan tried to open the door in a rush. She couldn't. It was locked from the outside with no way that we could see from the inside to open it.

We heard Aoki Yuri-san roll down her window and being talking over an intercom. I guess they had a garage inside or something. I couldn't see well; all I did catch was a very long wall that seemed to go more than a normal block down.

But they had a limo, so they must have a place to park it. It wasn't rented, that's for sure, even if it did have that new-car-smell.

The car started moving again and the elder Aoki-san chuckled as she glanced back in the rearview mirror and saw Kazemi-chan pouting.

"It's child-safety locked. We don't want you to fall out of the car and get hurt," our driver said monotone. I could see the smile tugging at her lips. But I doubt anyone else was paying enough attention to notice.

Shino-san I saw shiver a little, as if taking her words as a threat, and catch the hyper girl's hand in a near death grip. Kazemi-chan, for her part, just grinned and chattered away like always.

Hopefully this weekend we'd be able to comfort Shino-san at least a little and maybe even get the story of whatever's bothering her from her own lips. If desperate, I'd ask Nishihara-san, even though I doubt she'd answer at all, but that would be an invasion of her privacy. Forgivable, but hardly that, in my own opinion.

The elder Aoki-san stopped the car abruptly, swinging around on foot to open our doors. Kazemi-chan, then Shino-san and her servant exited from the front, followed by myself, Aoki-san and Li-kun.

I couldn't help but stand there and stare. I heard Kazemi-chan faintly as she began to sing made-up songs again, and vaguer still felt a hand clutch my shoulder in reassurance, which I knew to be Li-kun's.

I'd known the Aoki family (or should I say Clan?) was rich, but not this much.

Two western houses, connected by a roved walkway, towered in front of us, the garage built into, it seemed, the second house. There was a garden, I could see, beyond the runway.

Through the soles of my shoes and my socks I felt the gravel driveway that led into the limo's home, and something else that I couldn't name. It wasn't physical, though I felt it could be used that way, but more of the same unexplainable something of my Truth Vision.

'_What could it be?_' I asked myself, lost in thought much like Shino-san had been for the past days. '_It doesn't feel the same as what I have, exactly, but more... yellowy to my mixed colors. I don't have much yellow..._'

I would've pondered more, but I noticed that Li-kun was leading me inside as everyone followed Aoki Yuri-san into the entrance hall.

Even the doors were huge!

Inside, the walls towered around us. If I was my adult height, maybe it wouldn't have been so apposing, but it was. The presence was stronger here, too, and it intensified the closer we went to the marble ballroom-type stares that led to the second floor.

Aoki Yuri-san bowed a few feet away from the last step, and, with the gracefulness of martial arts, fell into attention on the far wall. I noticed about ten other people, all similarly dressed, with dark hair and dangerous auras that I was beginning to think belonged only to the Aoki Clan.

Aoki-san's father as well as an older man and woman, both with grey hair but straight backs and good posture that gave the illusion they were younger, were there to greet us. Aoki Yuri, who I supposed was my friend's father's sister, had bowed to them and they hadn't even stared her a glance, instead focusing their full attention on us.

Maybe it's normal, or the Aoki Clan members standing in front of us were more curious about Aoki-san's friends than anything else, but you just don't ignore someone showing you respect! I suspect it's the former, though I would prefer it to be the later.

What is with this family?

"Shino-san, Kasumi-san, Kazemi-san," the father greeted us. His voice, though without much emotion, still held a little warmth as he said, "Musume-chan."

"Otou-sama," Aoki-san greeted her father, voice barely above a whisper. I was surprised he heard her, but by the affectionate flare in his aura, I knew he did.

Nishihara-san, who had been looking around critically, smiled her thin smile that wasn't at all mocking, but instead approving. Such a major change in her attitude must've come from somewhere. Looking closer: she was pleased that her mistress was making good allies for the future.

What a way to think of a child! I now had somewhat more of an idea what she went through at home. No child of so few years (she's six, I think) should have expectations that caused her stress placed upon her. I know I've never had!

Though I clutched Li-kun's hand in a not-so-loose grip and tried to keep my attention on Aoki-sama, Aoki-san's father, who was talking to Nishihara-san at the moment, my attention wandered. Without turning my head, I glanced around the front hall and took in the decor.

Flower's wall paper in muted tones decorated only three-fourths of the walls, the rest painted a creamy white and separated by an elaborate, and a three inch plaster mold all the way around. I couldn't see the ceiling well, but from what I'd glimpsed, it was covered in carvings that where similar to the molds. There were the stairs, of course, that looked like any western ballroomish architecture.

There were paintings on the walls, all of flowers or fruit or other inanimate objects and no people. I wonder why?

Aoki-sama, then, said something that caught my attention. "My daughter," he didn't look at her, but her guests, "has asked me leave to use the Japanese Room, where you all may sleep on futons." I heard his unsaid request for permission addressed to the ones with us.

Li-kun just smiled his answer. Nishihara-san, though, frown with thin lips and made to protest. Shino-san, who I hadn't known was back from limbo, tugged once on her kimono sleeve in warning. The elder woman glanced down at her charge, who glared another warning.

Nishihara-san, it doesn't need to be said (or thought, in my case), left it be with some effort against her stern and proper-comes-first nature.

Aoki-sama almost smiled, his lips twitching upward for a moment only, and addressed us again. "Saito-san and Yang-san," he gestured to the woman and man, who, now that I looked closer, was indeed Chinese. (There is a difference between the Japanese and Chinese in appearance, which you would be able to tell if you knew how to look.) "They will take you to your room."

They came forward when he finished speaking, and I saw Kazemi-chan grab Saito-san's hand, surprising the woman even if she didn't show it, and talk away as she was led up the marble stares. Aoki-san followed them.

I smiled up at Li-kun, intentionally turning him so none of the adults standing in the shadows, Aoki Yuri-san included, could see our mouths as we spoke and read our lips, if they could.

"They're nice here, aren't they?" he asked me, aware or unaware of what I'd done I wasn't sure.

"Yes, they are! It's quieter here than home, too." I liked quiet, and so did he, though he liked being helpful even more. One of the many things we shared in common.

"You'll have fun?" His smile was gentle and his hands on my shoulders light, but I could also tell he was worried. Li Mein is a calm person, though, and also a martial artist. Control, to him, is knowing when, why and how to show emotion.

"Yes," I said. "I will."

"Good." He released my shoulders and pulled me into a loose hug. I hugged him back, a little harder than necessary, but I am five and couldn't do any more than that. "Be safe, yes? This place is..."

He didn't need to finish his sentence; I knew. He may not be able to sense the eyes that I've felt. But he was sensitive to other things. Like ghosts; by his aura I knew.

Reading auras isn't hard, and I just listened to what my other self whispered to me. I assumed it was her, at least, that explained things I knew but didn't know again. Li Mein would miss me.

I couldn't say the same for Nishihara-san when it came to Shino-san. The woman was glad to leave her here, and not just because of the 'allies' thing. She didn't like Shino-san that much, and...

At least she didn't want the girl to die, I suppose.

I can't believe I just thought that. Bad, bad me! I mentally hit myself over the head.

Well, at the very least I wasn't talking in the third person.

Yet.

Sigh. What am I doing? I need to follow Yang-san!

And so I did, unconsciously clutching Shino-san's hand in comfort for the both of us.

-0-0-0-0-

I don't remember going to sleep, or being transported somewhere else, but I knew I wasn't in the Japanese Room, as Aoki-sama had called it, a room of tatami mats and small yukata for the each of us, playing a game I hadn't known before with my three older friends. That room, anywhere in the Aoki residence, did I think there where towering oak trees and winter ferns with trunks so thick even a sumo wrestler could hide behind one.

OK, maybe I'm exaggerating, but still, this place wasn't Japanese in the least. More of a European forest than a bamboo thicket. And they definitely didn't wear chain mail and carry swords, more like suits and pistols.

I glanced around again, taking note of the dirt pathway that looked like a cart-and-horse road, the autumn feel, and the sun high in the sky, just past noon. Remember, I've lived many lives, and learned to read the time of day in more than one.

I stood on the side of the road, garbed in chain mail, a tunic, carrying a sword, but in trousers instead of hose, which has always been a sore spot with me. Stupid, idiot invention!

Hey. I wasn't always a girl, you know.

Horse's hooves I heard coming from behind me, just within earshot. Three horses, I could tell, all with bells that tinkled at the riders galloped closer. They didn't sound like they were going to stop, and I, not knowing if they were friend or foe, hid in the trees and waited, tense and watching.

It's so easy to fall into habit, and I've been in a situation like his more than thrice before.

When the riders came into sight, I stifled a gasp. In the lead horse sat Aoki Yuri-san in a medieval guard's uniform, the crest one I hadn't seen before, with Saito-san and Yang-san in similar uniforms trailing only inches behind. They rode like the wind, and I could tell someone was casing them.

But what for?

Only when they and their horses (all black, I absently noted, with sturdy saddles and bells on the strobes, which didn't help their flight noise-wise) rushed passed did I see something that gave me cause to guess.

Sitting in front of Aoki Yuri-san, clad in black as always, was my friend Aoki-san. She wore her normal blank expression, blandly watching the scenery, watching as I'm sure someone had taught her (her father, perhaps). She sat upright and alert, small hands clutching the saddle horn.

I stumbled back wondering, '_What the HELL!_', and snapped a twig. Above the noise of their horses, I know Aoki-san heard and turned to look. She saw me, dazed as I was, equipped as a warrior, and stared. I saw her whisper something to Aoki Yuri-san, and her aunt gave the signal to stop.

The three adults turned to see me; I stood at the edge of the road, now, seeing no point in hiding; and placed their hands on their sword hilts but didn't draw them. They didn't want to start conflict and would rather question me first to find out who I was, I supposed.

Aoki Yuri-san was the first to speak. "Who beth thee, stranger?"

I just blinked at her. Was I in some Monty Python movie or something? There language was too... mocking (?) for Shakespeare. Who speaks like that anymore, anyway? (I have, but that doesn't count. I was in the era, then.)

"I beth..." I didn't know what name to give. I glanced around, trying to come up with something. "Shidarui," I said for lack of a better word, staring at a fern.

Aoki Yuri-san nodded in acceptance, arms around Aoki Yayoi-san protectively, clutching her reins with white knuckled hands. I wanted to put her worries at ease, but I didn't know how.

"Thou beth Shidarui." I nodded. "Of withst has thou come, Warrior Shidarui?" she asked me. Saito-san and Yang-san stared at me, expressionless but ready to fight if either of the Aoki were threatened.

I didn't know what to say to her question, so I settled for, "A country and city whom thou hast never been, milady." I bowed, not to low but still respectfully, and asked where they were from, and headed.

She started at that, not sure how to reply. Her niece, instead, answered. "We cometh from the town Burn, two hour ride yonder if yee be rushed." She too had an English accent that didn't sound quite right.

"And we beth headed toward the port of St. Gertrude," Aoki Yuri finished, pointing in the direction that they'd been heading before they'd stopped before me.

"Who beth thou, and thou companions?" I asked, voice level though I tried not to laugh. It was all so hysterical, though! At least none of us wore dresses, or than I would have trouble holding it in.

"We beth Aoki," Aoki-san said simply, as if that would explain everything. Her aunt tensed, as did their guards (which I had no doubt they were). They seemed to be waiting for me to attack or mock them or something.

Well. Did I ever prove them wrong!

I simply asked, "May I accompany you?"

Aoki Yuri-san nodded, looking a little dazed, and steered her mount to face forward and not back, toward the way they'd come. Saito-san and Yang-san stared at me warily, not trusting in the least but bent on doing as their lady so wished.

And Aoki-san... Aoki-san truly smiled!

The walk to the port of St. Gertrude (for she'd spoken true and not lied to me like I'd thought she had) was uneventful, to say the least. Sometimes Aoki Yuri-san would walk while I rode with Aoki-san, showing the guards that I was somehow trusted, but it was still a long and boring way.

The port town wasn't much, either. About twenty squat but well kept houses, the like I'd lived in once upon a life, housing families of five or more each. The pathway between the houses wasn't much, just a continuation of the road, but it was swept clean. Livestock wasn't walking around on its own, but kept penned. Children played, yes, but behind the houses, under their washing that was pinned to strings that kept it from blowing in the sea's wind.

All in all, it was a quaint, well organized, little town.

But why was I here? And how on **Earth** did I get here!

-0-0-0-0-

Surprisingly, I still had my Truth Vision, though it didn't work here as sight, but more like a sixth sense. I felt people watching us from the buildings, suspicious people that called their children inside. As soon as we set foot in their home, the outside was deserted.

Aoki Yuri-san, currently on the horse with her young niece, only sighed in resignation and weariness. She seemed used to this, and I surmised that it must happen often. But why?

"I beg your pardon, most gracious lady, mind not my question if it causes thou offense. But why doth the peasant folk draw their curtains whilest we approach?" I asked, trying to speak Medieval-ese. It's hard, especially when I haven't spoken the modern, off-the-wall type the people in this world were using.

Aoki Yuri and my Aoki-san both stared at me blankly, Saito-san and Yang-san tensing and even more alert than before. The blank faces covered their inward shock, and they seemed to see me in a new light. I'm not sure if it was a positive one, either.

I hoped one of them would overcome their frozen state and answer me. Preferably truthfully.

"Thou must cometh from a far off land for thee to not know of my ladies' fate, Warrior Shidarui," Yang-san spoke. I stared at the guard in surprise, not sure whether to hope the world was ending or believe my ears.

I chose the later, though I personally thought the former was more likely in this situation.

"I come from afar and have little knowledge of this land," I replied, forcing myself to speak. I covered my shock as best I could, remembering something someone had once said, '_Show no weakness and they may think you strong, even if you aren't._'

Aoki-san nodded graciously, a strange act for a little girl. She wasn't like me, I hoped, an adult stuck in a child's body. Come to think of it, though, this body wasn't that short, more to a horse's shoulder than its knee. And something else felt odd, though I couldn't place it...

I'm not unobservant by any means; I knew there was something I was missing, but just not what!

"We," Aoki-san explained, gesturing towards the ones of the same Clan in our small group, "have been cast from Court. We decendth now to our exile in the land of Blue. We beth no longer welcome in the land of Lavender."

I sweat dropped, finally getting an idea what was going on. Now if only I could figure out what was wrong with this body...

My revelation came in the unexpected form of two children and a woman, all in ragged clothes and smelling of the see came rushing toward us.

I stared.

Shidou-sensei, Shino-san and Kazemi-chan all looked haggard and weary but intact. What had happened to them?

Suddenly, the smallest of them opened her mouth and asked, "Who is de new guy, malady?" Kazemi-chan stared at me curiously, eyes sharp, mischievous and inquisitive even though she was exhausted.

Well, now I had my answer. I was a male here.

Joy.

Note the sarcasm. I hope you did, at least.

Kazemi-chan was wacked on the back of the head by a giant paper fan. The punished, Shino-san, told her fiercely, "Use proper language when speaking to the Ladies." She regarded me, weapon back who-knows-where (also known as Hammer Space), with an inquisitive, curious expression. "Who is thou, stranger?"

I laughed nervously. "I beth Shidarui, a humble wanderer, accompanying thoust fairest lady only this way." I turned to the Aoki and bowed, not too low but enough to be a bit more than polite. "I bid thee farewell, milady, young miss." It didn't feel right to address their guards without being spoken to first.

"Why?" Kazemi-chan asked, clinging to my leg. "Let's be friends, kay? You can stay and play with me and keep us company."

I shook my head. "I really must go."

"Why?" it was Shino-san this time. "You'd be happier here, Warrior Shidarui."

I nodded negatively again. "I beg apology, but no."

"Why?" everyone demanded together. My vision was suddenly blurry and I could hardly make out one from the other. Aoki-san, though, wasn't Aoki-san anymore. The person in her place, an adult from what I could tell, was someone I knew, but didn't quite no. They were familiar, but...

Why did I stay? This time I asked myself.

The answer was simple: I didn't like being a guy.

No, that wasn't just it. I had real friends, real family, for the first time in a long while. Why should a give that up for some stupid phantoms that were control by the person who watched me.

Wait. How did I know it was the watcher that was causing this? Quite odd...

I felt almost asleep as I stood there, aware but not aware. The world was shifting around me, and I wasn't the only one in control. Far off somewhere people were battling for dominance.

But why wasn't I? Because they battled only for purpose, and I knew mine already. And theirs too, but I doubt they'd ask me for the answer. Too arrogant, those ones.

How did I know that? Why would I care? And somehow, I didn't.

When the world stopped moving around me, I finally opened my eyes, unaware that I'd closed them in the first place. I knew where I was, this time, and was happy to see the woman sitting on a picnic blanket in the middle of a mixed forest (tropical threes next to elder and oak, palms around a clearing instead of a pool).

"Where and how?" I asked her, tired but wanting answers. "Why?"

She smiled sweetly at me in understanding and stood, clutching the replica of my beloved black dog doll to her chest. We weren't that far apart, as I stood on the edge of our clearing close to her meal, and she soon stood right in front of me.

With gentle fingers, she crouched down and touched my forehead. I was in my Kasumi body, like I always was when meeting my other self. Her fingers were warm, and I relaxed.

"You will have your answers, my dear." Her voice. I couldn't concentrate on anything but her voice. "You will remember, when you wake, and have your answers another time. Wait patiently, please. It won't seem that long from now, when you finally get there."

I nodded and closed my eyes again, this time in a relaxed manner.

Suddenly her fingers were gone, and I realized I was cold. Kazemi-chan, a kicking, active sleeper, had stolen my blankets.

I stared into the darkness, remembering and trying to process what I did at the same time. New world, old people, a male body and the watcher. When my other self said I'd remember, I hadn't thought she'd mean that my photographic memory had memorized everything.

Holding my head in my hands, I knew. I was awake, and it had only been a dream.

----

"Nng..." Someone groaned. Half asleep, I blinked and stared dazedly around the room. "This isn't my room," I murmured, blinking owlishly again. "Oh, yes. This is Aoki-san's home."

Stretching and yawning at the same time, I wondered why I was up again. All I could remember after waking up from that dream (What had it been about again? I still wasn't fully awake.) was sitting and thinking for the longest time. I must've fallen asleep again...

Why had I woken up, then?

A pressure in my lower stomach answered my question. "Oh." Bathroom. Bad.

I rushed out of the room and down the hall, to the place Saito-san had shown us when we'd asked. It had a lock on the door I couldn't reach, so I didn't even bother, and went straight for the toilet.

Needless to say, I came out of the bathroom (hands washed thanks to the stool placed for that purpose under the sink) fully relieved. The sound of flushing followed me as I made my way down the hallway. It was dimly lit, and, unlike rushing down here, my eyes weren't accustomed to the gloom.

OK, don't panic. The Japanese room is down the hall, a right turn, than a left, the first door that you come to. Isn't it? No, it's to the left, down a hall and the first door on the right. Right?

I think I'm lost.

Think. Think! What are you supposed to do in situations like this? Stay put or ask a staff member to find your parents for you, if I remember correctly. Why couldn't oka-sama have had this talk with me already?

Deep breathes. Deep calming breathes. Just because you're a five year old lost in a big, scary mansion doesn't mean this is a horror movie.

In my old world's horror films, at least, **I** would be the killer ghost kid going after everybody and singing nursery rimes in a haunting voice.

What was that world coming to? Kids aren't killers. Really...

Before I could panic again, I thought I heard the distant sound of voices. Blanking my thoughts and listening closely, I knew I had.

Following the voices to their origination was better than standing in the dark hallway at any bet. I just hope I didn't disturb anyone out for a cup of water or something. Maybe they could lead me back to my room.

At that thought, I started toward the sounds, unconsciously using my stealth training. Sneaking into oka-sama and outo-sama's bedroom without him noticing, more like. It worked, though, and I'm quitter than most of my father's students when they want no one to notice them.

I didn't have to walk far, as it was just down the hall. I had hardly been in earshot before, and could now make out the words people spoke in what I assumed was someone's study.

"...doing well," a male voice said, belonging to neither of the men I knew here. This voice was deep and somewhat strained, nothing like the cool and calm voices of Yang-san and Aoki-sama. "Things check out with all of them."

The door was open a crack, and I reached out to open it, or at least knock. What the male voice (reporting, I inwardly noted) said next made me jerk my hand away, not quite flinching but close to it.

"The Kasumi girl; she's the daughter of one Tendo Soun, the current Master of Anything Goes located in Tokyo. The others: Saotome something is on a training journey with his infant son, and their sensei known only as Happosai has been missing for over fifteen years now." The man paused, and the person he reported to murmured something I couldn't hear.

Stumbling back, I pressed myself against the wall, not sure what to do but not wanting to leave before I knew what was going on. They were checking up on all of us, whether the reason being that of a concerned parent or something else, I wanted to know why.

"Kasumi's mother, maiden name Warukuna Kumiko, is originally from the United States, but settled here with her father aged thirteen. She married Tendo at twenty-one and had her daughter two years later," the man continued, stating no less than what I already knew.

'_Ojii-sama divorced obaa-sama when oka-sama was thirteen, and they lived in Tokyo until otou-sama married oka-sama. At the wedding, ojii-sama and obaa-sama rekindled their friendship somehow and married again the next fall,_' I continued mentally to myself. '_Obaa-sama held custody of my mother's elder sister and younger brother, and visited oka-sama every summer._' It was something I didn't need to repeat over and over again, but did so anyway.

Sometimes you remember things, but just don't fully grasp them at first. This, I knew as information but didn't hold close, like I should, I suppose. Family is important, after all.

"What about Okamura Kazemi?" asked a female voice quietly, one that sounded vaguely familiar. "Does she pose any threat of finding out?"

"No, mistress," the man replied, voice straining even farther with emotion. Was I the only one noticing?

Luckily, they didn't know I was there, otherwise they wouldn't have continued their conversation.

"And Shino's daughter?" the woman prompted.

"Somewhat of a chance, but the possibility isn't that high," the man replied, shifting from foot to foot.

I heard the rustle of silk (a kimono?) and the impatient tapping of nails on wood. "Kasumi... what is her probability?"

I listened intently. This was about me, after all, and maybe they would actually say what they didn't want us to find out. Was it a family secret or just one carried by some members? I was anxious to know.

The man was silent for a moment, but answered after a time of shuffling papers and rustling cloth. "She has the highest chance known to us at the moment, but since she's younger than the rest and could still be considered a toddler, she is unlikely to find out. It's been said that she is perceptive, and she is at the top of her class, but even then..."

"Yes," the quiet woman murmured. "We don't want any of them to find out about what we can do. Have you gotten in touch with Hinoto-sama?"

At that there conversation took an entirely different turn. Eyes wide, I listened.

"Hai, mistress. She says that nothing of great importance to us shall happen in the next five years... And are you sure it's alright for that boy to be trained with that man?"

"Why? Your brother's son has potential, boy. He has already decided his fated person, and should be most equipped to protect her." The woman sighed. "I know you are concerned, but it is not your place to bring such things up in my presence."

"Yes, mistress. Please except my sincerest apology, mistress." He said it with meaning, not mockingly like I would have thought. The man knelt down (I heard him most), but I couldn't gage the female's reaction.

"Yes, yes. Has your son progressed any in the mastery of his wind techniques?"

"Certainly, but..." I stumbled down the hall, walking backwards, and was out of earshot before he could continue his sentence.

Hinoto-sama? 'That boy' studying with 'that man'? Wind techniques? Why did this all sound familiar?

Oh. **Oh.** That's right. Aoki Shu'ichiro-san was a Dragon of Heaven, one of the Seven Seals and Master of Wind, involved with the End of the World in CLAMP's X/1999.

Don't tell me...

...I'm also in X!

Please, oh please, no. I don't want to deal with earthquakes or giant dragons or anyone dying. The people in that manga... Subaru-san was too sad, and I just don't want to deal with Kamui-Fuma-san or Seishiro-san... Kotori-san and Nekoi-san seemed like nice people...

Sigh. What am I thinking? I need more sleep.

Yeah, that's it. Sleep. Hopefully, this is all a dream or something and I won't have to deal with any Kamui people or Dreamseers, if they even exist here.

Hopefully -futile, I know- not.

Man, the floor suddenly looks to comfortable...

Zzzzz...

----

This has been a long first day, and somehow, I knew the excitement wasn't over. There was still Saturday and Sunday, after all.

I was dead tired Saturday and didn't want to even move, but I hadn't really a chose. Kazemi-chan was a persistent and convincing waker. (She didn't even use ice water!)

We spent the first full day exploring the mansion and surrounding garden, much to the displeasure of various servants and gardeners. Though they had the same blank expression and tone as the other Aoki, I could tell without using my Truth Vision. They couldn't hide their emotions as well as, say, Aoki-san, and I was experienced at reading her without my power's help.

The morning and afternoon spent running around and playing with my friends distracted me from what I'd heard the night before, but when night fell at last and we were again escorted to our room, it all came rushing back.

The man reporting to the soft spoken woman, Hinoto-sama, wind mastery... Agh! What was I going to do? I didn't even know if I was truly right... I should really check...

Let me explain what I mean. My Truth Vision, as I've said, can show me what others can't see (auras, ghosts, etc.), but it also has other features. If any of you have read Tamora Peirce's Trickster's Choice or Trickster's Queen, then you know what I mean.

At will, I can change the 'setting' of my Truth Vision. I can't turn it off (I don't have that much control) but can turn it to the lowest place possible: 6th sense intuition. All it would take was a tenth of a second of thought and I would be able to see the powers of anyone I was within range of.

Really, it wasn't truly seeing, like with auras, but more like an innate voice whispering what each person could do when I tuned in on their signature. From what I'd read (I had oka-sama's library half-way memorized, thanks to my photographic memory), it was possible to block or fool my power, but only if you were highly trained, and even then, more powerful than I was.

I bet there are a lot of people with higher levels then myself (in fact, I know there are), but I have yet to encounter them.

With these thoughts I fell asleep. If I dreamed, I didn't remember it this time, which I counted as a blessing. The night before had been enough to last me years.

Sunday morning was much like Saturday, though the servants kept a closer eye on us. After lunch, though, sitting in the garden, I finally worked up my courage enough to look.

Kazemi-chan was chasing butterflies with a loaned net as Shino-san chased after her, still angry at being the only one our hyper friends had deemed worthy enough to get kicked in her sleep. It would've been funny, if not for the bruises.

Aoki-san sat next to me, watching them, unaware that I was again working up my courage, this time to tune in on her.

When I finally did, I was shocked by what I heard/saw/knew, and lost control. My snapped power washed over the mansion, causing gardeners with green thumbs and maids with cleaning powers alike to tense. Everyone else, including my friends, seemed unaware, though was Aoki-san sweating a little...?

"Ano..." I regained control, not sure what had happened. Most likely the spike in my emotions had loosed the reins enough to go out and reverse what its purpose was, being the type of magic to pluck at others' powers it alerted them instead of me.

This type was unpredictable, the books had said. If the wielder knew how to listen, then they would hear the sound and know what the other had. If not, than they needed more training or practice. My ability, I assumed, was built in potential or something as such.

"What just..." The gardener who had spoken was a young apprentice, not much older than Li Mein. He was quickly shushed and herded inside by an older servant, how was some relation, along with others that looked confused.

"Young ones," Yang-san appeared behind us. I'd known he was there, always following us, but hadn't seen him in a day. Saito-san was usually the one that led us around or stopped us causing trouble. "Please follow me."

"What is it?" Shino-san demanded, forgetting to be the polite and well mannered heiress she had been so far. "That feeling felt familiar."

Yang-san didn't seem fazed, but he couldn't hide his shock from me. "Please follow me, young ones." Though his voice was accented, it held an authority it hadn't before.

I was the first to rise. "Shino-san, Aoki-san, Kazemi-chan," I addressed them. "Please." I held out my hand to held Aoki-san up, and she took it.

"Oh, alright," Shino-san said in her exasperated voice. "But only because _you_ asked nicely."

Kazemi-chan nodded, smiling brightly as she took the hand Aoki-san hadn't led go of. I noticed somewhat belatedly that they al were shaking.

'_That's right,_' I thought, tightening my grip as Shino-san took Kazemi-chan's other hand. '_They're all still kids. I am only outwardly and..._' I glanced sideways at them. '_...they all have a lot on their shoulders._'

I now had, in my mind, the powers and signatures memorized from everyone in this building, including my friends. It was entirely unexpected, not to mention unwelcome on the part of the adults, but I couldn't very well erase it. My head wasn't a computer, though sometimes I might wish it was.

It's good to know I was wrong, though. This world may be a crossover with Naruto, but it isn't with any CLAMP creation so far.

The Aoki... How can I describe it? Each is born with the potential for a certain kind of power, like that son of the man Friday night had with wind. Aoki-san had wind and water, an odd combination, in the subcategorizes of Protection and Healing. She has it very strong.

Shino-san... I don't know what her family is, but she is also strong in offense and fire. Here training must be helping, because I could only sense her and Kazemi-chan because of my loss of control.

Kazemi-chan... She, well... Something, maybe her mind unconsciously, but something is serpressing her power. It is stronger than Shino-san's and Aoki-san's, maybe even stronger than my own. There are a lot of reasons she or others are doing this, maybe out of fear or jealousy or sorrow, but powers and inborn magic just don't go away.

Well, Kazemi-chan's isn't really inborn, per say. Her hyper activeness, for example, is caused by the build-up of power she doesn't use. She gathers it from the air itself, but represses the part that allows her to use it to its full potential. What her element or such is, though, I couldn't get a reading on.

Inside, we were left in a receiving room on the first floor and told to amuse ourselves. Easy for Kazemi-chan and Shino-san, but not for myself and Aoki-san. My active friends began arguing (well, most of it was Kazemi-chan teasing and Shino-san getting angry and yelling).

The silence between me and our hostess was becoming uncomfortable on my part, so I decided to try and strike up a conversation.

"Aoki-san-"

Then, for the first time ever I think, she cut me off. "Why do you call us as such?"

"Huh?" I didn't understand her question.

"By our last names, myself and Katsuki-san," she elaborated, calling our other friends' attention to us.

"Yeah. I wanna know, too," Shino-san said, folding her arms and taking a seat on the couch next to me. "You call Kazemi-baka (her nickname for the girl) by her given name but us 'Shino-san' and 'Aoki-san'. Why?"

"I-" I didn't know how to explain. "It isn't polite," was the only thing I could think of. "And Kazemi-chan isn't an Okamura-san. Kazemi-chan is Kazemi-chan and Shino-san is-"

"Shino-san. We know," Aoki-san interrupted me again. "Please, call us by our given names."

"But-" That still didn't seem right.

"We insist," Aoki-san continued.

"Yeah. We've been telling you to for what? Weeks? Months?" Shino-san huffed. "It seems longer. And you excuses don't make sense. Our parents are Shino-san and Aoki-san, not us. We're Katsuki-chan and Yayoi-chan."

Kazemi-chan nodded along in agreement, plopping down on the other side of Aoki-san.

"I-" I didn't know how to reply.

"At least try it out," Aoki-san said reasonably. She was talking more than usual, and what she was saying made sense, I suppose.

"Ah..." I gulped, but my argument deflated under their expectant stares. "Katsuki-san and... Yayoi-san?"

All three smiled. "Much better," Kazemi-chan said. "But it's Katsuki**-chan**, not Katsuki**-san**." She grabbed my hands and pulled me up, dancing around the room. "Katsuki-chan, Katsuki-cha, you gotta call her Katsuki-chan," she sang as we twirled, laughing.

"OK!" I said. I was doing my best to make sure we didn't bump into anything.

"Stop singing my name!" Katsuki-chan said angrily, going after Kazemi-chan. Laughing, she released me and danced away from the former Shino-san's oncoming attacks.

As she had release me mid-spin, I allowed myself to fall effortlessly on the couch beside Yayoi-san. She smiled slightly at me, not quite ready for a full grin yet, and then turned her attention to our friends' antics, eyes and expression blank as usual.

Following her gaze, I sighed. "You know," I said to her, smiling, "you don't have to be afraid."

She looked at me quickly, expression betraying her surprise. Speechless, she could only stare.

"Don't worry, everyone is at first," I offered, taking her hand. "All of us and..."

"Yes," she replied, returning my grip and understanding what I was trying to say. "I will do my best."

I nodded. "That is only what one should expect from anyone."

She regained composure and her expression, as blank as it usually, betrayed nothing. Her eyes, however, said, 'I know differently.'

Sighing whistfully, I couldn't keep a smile from my face. "Even if you're pressured into doing something, thinking you have to do it, in the end, it's your own choice. Thank you for inviting us, Yayoi-chan. Katsuki-chan, I think, is doing all the better for being here."

Yayoi-san, again surprised, smiled truly at me. Even Kazemi-chan and Katsuki-chan, distracted as they were, stopped fighting and stared in open mouthed shock at our friend's expression.

"You are welcome, Kasumi-chan," she said softly so only I could here, squeezing my hand one last time.

She was pulled away by our other two friends. They hugged her shoulders, almost draping themselves across her as they talked.

"Your cute when you smile like that, Yayoi-chan," Shino-san, I mean Katsuki-chan said. "You should smile more often."

"Yeah," Kazemi-chan agreed. "You'd have boys wanting to play with you all the time, if you did."

"Why would she want that?" Katsuki-chan asked, glaring at Kazemi-chan. "Boys are nasty."

"No they aren't," Kazemi-chan said, sticking her tongue out at the fuming girl. "They're nice and do things for you when they like you."

I sweat dropped as their bickering continued, Yayoi-san forgotten. Well, this was normal for us, and I hoped it stayed so for years to come.

----

Li-kun came to pick me up at seven that Sunday evening in a taxi. I loved my friends, and liked to spend time with them, I really did, but nothing can beat your home. Li-kun I counted as part of my family, even if my parent's didn't consider him the son they never had.

Home was a relief; it'd been an exciting weekend. I didn't know what I was going to say when either of my parents ask me how it was or what we'd done.

Otou-sama greeted us at the door, bowling something about his baby girl finally coming home. He was getting ready for another training trip, this time with his top students, including Li Mein. I should only be a week or two at the most, because the grounds they were to train on weren't far from Tokyo.

Before he could crush me in one of his relentless hugs, he was hit on the head with a serving spoon. Oka-sama, I thought happily, hadn't lost her aim.

From the kitchen, she shouted, "Come and help, please, Kasumi-chan. Li-kun, could you watch the girls?" 'The girls' being her other two daughters.

"Yes, Tendo-sama," he said loud enough for her to here. In the other room, Akane started crying, a fit that would rival otou-sama's if someone didn't calm her down quickly. Nabiki had most likely taken her toy again.

Neither Akane nor Nabiki knew the meaning of sharing. Whatever either of them wanted, they got. Nabiki, though, wasn't trained to hit you if she got mad enough.

"Are you staying for dinner, Li-kun?" I asked hopefully, knowing by the smells coming from the kitchen we were having some of his Chinese favorites.

"Hai, Kasumi-san." He patted my head affectionately.

"You'd better go. I'll be sure to add some of the spices like you talked about," I whispered softly.

He smiled fondly at me and nodded. "I'm sure it will taste delicious, Kasumi-san." He walked off.

I nodded at his back, knowing he couldn't see me.

Standing on a stool in the kitchen moments later, helping oka-sama cut onions (I was one of those odd people that didn't cry), I thought to myself, '_It's good to be home._'

And it was.

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A/N: Man! This is over 20 pages long. Don't expect anything else to be like this, alright? I just didn't know when to stop. I was considering writing the cherry blossom picnic in here too, but decided against it.

Next chapter: Chapter 8: Kasumi's grandmother finally comes, and school continues. Akane makes a real appearance!

Hope you liked it!  
_Sister Shadow/Li_


	9. Arriving and Finding

**Broken Mirror Reflecting  
By: **_Shadow/Li_

Disclaimer: I don't own Ranma ½, only the plot ideas. And a few OC.

Summary: The spirit to be reincarnated as Tendo Kasumi turns out to be unavailable when it is called, so another is sent in her place. This soul, however, remembers everything of it's many past lives, a female otaku in the most recent. Armed with the knowledge of what the future of Nerima holds, she begins to plan for the future while trying to forget something in the past.

Crossovers: Characters: Naruto

**My Excuse:** Anyone else just get Kingdom Hearts 2? 'Cause I just did. And yes, it is the best game ever made. That's why this chapter's later than usual. My apologies, loyal readers!

A/N: Below is a list of the OC I've created so far. I hope it helps, if any of you were confused!

**Original Characters **(just so you know):

Note: (5) i.e. This character appeared for the first time in the fifth chapter.

i.e. This character appeared for the first time in an Interlude.

(2) Ameyo Mio: Kasumi's first friend; talkative and bedridden with an unnamed blood disease

(5) Ameyo Kuroku: Mio's older brother by 11 months; protective of his sister and loves sports

(5) Ameyo Yasuki: Mio's older brother by three years; shy and academic

(5) Ameyo Miyami: Mio's mother; more hysterical than her daughter and only calmed down by Seimaru

(5) Ameyo Seimaru: Mio's father; a silent, imposing man with a mysterious aura

(6) Aoki Yayoi: Kasumi's quiet, enigmatic friend

(6) Aoki-sama: Yayoi's father; Head of the Aoki Clan and an imposing figure with a blank face and 'no emotions'

(I) Aoki Yuri: Yayoi's aunt; presumably a guard-in-training

(I) Saito-san: female guard/escort

(I) Yang-san: Chinese guard/escort

(6) Okamura Kazemi: Kasumi's friend; hyperactive but surprisingly tact and insightful when you least expect it

(6) Shino Katsuki: Kasumi's friend; hot tempered and hates boys

(6) Nishihara-san: Katsuki's servant/baby-sitter; stern and proper, inflexible

(I) Sakaki Minoru: Kasumi's friend; also at the top of his class and a bookworm

(1) Li Mein: Soun's student and Kasumi's guard/escort/older-brother figure and best friend

(1) Shin: a disembodied person (not sure if ghost, deity or agent of one) who sent our main character to be Kasumi's soul;

(mentioned) Hareru: Shin's secretary (or something else?)

(one sentence) Otonashi Reiko: Shidou-sensei's student-teaching/intern person; does the "Rise, Bow, Be Seated" routine

-0-0- -0-0-

_Chapter Eight: Arriving and Finding_

-0-0- -0-0-

"How is your mother getting here, Kumiko-chan?" otou-sama asked from behind his morning newspaper, rustling the pages as he stared at the sports section. I'd refrained from reading the back of his newspaper since the Haruno/Uchiha article and now sat at the end of the table just to be sure. Sitting beside Soun was hazardous for his children. He tended use the hug-from-Hell (now worse than Ameyo Miyami-san's) when he read an especially touching or sad article.

We heard a crack from the kitchen; oka-sama was making breakfast. I couldn't see her, but could imagine clearly enough: my mother surrounded in an angry red aura, large cleaver she'd been chopping green onions with now wedged immobile into the counter, right through the cutting board.

If you hadn't guessed already, oka-sama has been furious since the phone call last week. No matter how much she talked to her mother, she couldn't persuade oba-sama to stay in a hostel. She wanted to, "stay with family while I'm there, and see my lovely granddaughters."

Oka-sama told her she could see her granddaughters anyway. She didn't have to stay with them. "Yes I do, Kumi-chan. I'll explain when I get there," was my grandmother's reply.

For some reason, this only made oka-sama madder.

Up until now, otou-sama had been treading lightly on the topic of his mother-in-law. Now, though, was the day she arrived by plane. Would oka-sama make her take the bus or something? Twelve and a half hours on a plane was tiring, especially if you didn't sleep.

At least, though, hers was a night flight, from what I'd heard.

"By taxi, of course," mother said all-too-sweetly once she'd regained her composure. I shuddered, glad that tone wasn't directed at me. She was scary when she was angry, and could be as passive aggressive as she was violent. (Akane, thankfully, hadn't inherited that. Nabiki had.)

For once, otou-sama surprised me. He didn't start crying and falling all over himself to appease his angry wife. For once, he stood his ground and acted like a true martial artist.

"Kumiko," he said in a firm and serious tone. He'd never, in the time I've known him, spoken in a scolding voice like he this one. "I know you're upset, but-"

"My father just died," oka-sama interrupted him, standing now in the doorway. "And my mother is coming here, acting like it's a holiday!" Darkened eyes hidden by her long bangs began to tear as she shouted out angry words. "You don'- it's just- I can't...

"You wouldn't understand! Your family-!" She stopped before she could finish her sentence, shocked at her own words. Whatever had happened with otou-sama's family, it was quite the sore subject for him.

Otou-sama, his face stony and pale, stared at his wife with guarded eyes.

"I don't- I-" Covering her mouth with shock, my mother let out a choked sob. Otou-sama didn't seem to care, or just was too caught up in his emotions to respond. He was looking very tense, repressing whatever instinct reaction he had to her cutting words.

It seemed oka-sama didn't know how to-

"I'm sorry." She hung her head in shame. It was, truly, a sincere and heartfelt apology. She didn't even try excuses like most people would.

There it was. Oka-sama never spoke those words lightly.

Otou-sama sighed. That one action relaxed his entire body, as if all of what he'd been feeling was released. I wouldn't doubt if it had; what he'd done was some kind of martial arts exorcise. I'd seen his students practicing from the time they started until the time they left him to go on their own journeys.

"It's... alright, Kumiko-chan." He actually smiled, much to our relief, even if it did have remnants of pain. "But, honorable wife, you seem to be forgetting something." His face changed, and I winced.

Still feeling guilty, oka-sama didn't react to his new expression like she normally would have. It was his 'going-to-get-in-trouble-for-something-Kumiko-doesn't-like-and-malleted-to-near-death' expression, something he wore at least once a week.

Instead, my unassuming mother asked, "What am I forgetting, honorable husband?"

"That all people deal with grief in their own way," otou-sama said with a serious face. If I hadn't known his better, I would've stared in awe, wondering if I'd misjudged him. I know I hadn't. "Your mother just happens to be the type to not show it."

OK, maybe I was wrong...

Oka-sama was nodding in agreement; she was like that too, in public. You always knew what otou-sama was feeling, even if the emotion was a small thing that most others wouldn't notice, he'd still express. The rest of us, including me, though... I don't know.

"She also likes to party, get drunk and-" He was malleted by reflex before he could finish his obviously lude comment. 'And do naughty things' was something along the lines of what he was going to say about my grandmother.

I wonder why?

I didn't have to for long, because the next minute, the doorbell rang.

Oka-sama froze, mallet still in hand, with a start. "Mother is...here," she muttered in English. "What do I... Oh." She sighed to herself and stepped over my otou-sama's twitching body, mallet disappearing into hammerspace. "I better go and greet her..."

She bend down and picked Akane up from her baby-chair (we had the Japanese floor cushions, and Nabiki and I were upright enough to use them), cradling her youngest like a life preserver, which I suppose she was. Something to keep oka-sama's anger grounded, at least.

The bell rang impatiently again, stirring otou-sama from his unconscious state. He twitched once, twice, then jumped on to his feet and stared around himself in a daze.

Oka-sama answered the door.

The moment he heard his wife and mother-in-law exchange greetings, he was sitting on his cushion in a regal pose, kimono suddenly straight and orderly. His sweating, however, made his proper pose all the more unreal.

Why was he so scared of obaa-sama? Was she as violent as oka-sama? I sweat dropped, and hoped she wasn't equal or worse in that department.

Oka-sama's words came back to me as I heard a slightly familiar (from the phone conversation) woman's voice answer her daughter's question, and shuffling as shoes were exchanged for indoor slippers.

I'd taken those words to heart, then, and still held them close; that was the first advice my mother had ever given me. I'd known she'd spoken from experience, but it had never quite sunken like it did now.

For the first time I wondered: Was oka-sama happy?

"Oh Soun-chan!" called a woman's voice in a sing-song way, and a stranger was standing in the doorway. Well, stranger only because she lived over seas. She was still family.

"Oh, Soun-chan, how marvelous to see you!" She spread her arms, as if to hug him (he'd stood as she'd entered) but walked past him at the last second. Instead, she knelt down to pinch Nabiki's cheeks gently and fuss over her middle granddaughter.

I, however, was still stunned speechless by her outfit.

Keep in mind, all I've see here was Japan's '80's style clothing (Yes, I'd found out it was some time in the 1980s. How? Technology, or lack there of.) and kimonos. Except for Shin, who I still haven't heard from, all the outfits I've seen in this world have certainly been tame.

Hers wasn't.

She wore a suit. A skirt suit. But it was, well, exaggerated is the only word I can think of that even begins to describe it.

The over-jacket matched the mid-calf skirt's lavender color, the under shirt a much darker blue-purple. Its cut was round, even the slits on both sits, going from knee and downward. She wore jewelry; plenty of jewelry that could never quite catch the details of.

'_Must be her powers_,' I thought, and shuddered at the urge to find out what they were. Since the incident at Yayoi-chan's house, I'd kept my Truth Vision at its lower level whenever possible, only using it when it couldn't be avoided.

Like now.

When obaa-sama turned and finally noticed me, her face surprised me. She didn't wear too much make-up like most adults her age (50s, though she looked younger), only a bit of kohl, the olden day stuff of eyeliner. Her face... Well, imagine a typical Japanese beauty. Than make her more delicate with an underlying strength, add paler skin, a blue tint to her hair, and a fuller bottom lip, and that may just be what she looked like. Indescribable, really.

Now I knew who oka-sama took after; her father. I've never seen a picture of the man, but I can guess: fluffy brown hair, warm brown eyes, and a heavier build than most Asian men have. Not tall, I bet, but taller than average.

Too bad he was dead. I would've liked to know first hand what he was like.

But obaa-sama...

Her expression was scrutinizing behind that good-natured smile of hers as she looked down at me, leaning a little bit too close. I could feel the tingling of someone else's power trying to read mine, and hesitated in blocking it. She meant no harm, only tried to gage what potential I had, but...

I didn't let her feel my all, only a little taste.

Her power pulled back when she felt mine move with my will, and stared even harder at my face. It was impossible to hide all my amusement, and I knew she saw some of it in my eyes.

But in front of my parents and sisters, she said nothing.

"What an adorable girl!" She pinched my cheek just as she had Nabiki-chan's, but harder. I kept myself from wincing instinctively, daring her with my eyes alone to make me show weakness.

Well, I'm sure she and I are bother stubborn. All us girls inherited it from her, I'm sure. I'm just one who can put it aside, like I did now. Later is later, and that's when we'd confront each other.

"Obaa-sama?" I asked, and was pleased to see a started expression cross her face. I could tell she was thinking something along the lines of, '_This is the one I talked to? I thought she'd be a bit... more._' But she was quick to regain herself.

"Yes, Kasumi-chan," she said patiently, as if talking to a child. To her, she was. "I'm your mother's mother. Your 'baa-chan."

"Obaa-sama," I said, nodding in understanding.

A vein popped on her head. "Call me 'baa-chan, Kasumi-chan," she insisted.

"Obaa-sama?" I said again, trying to sound confused and questioning.

Her face twisted in a way that made me wonder how she talked through that clenched jaw. She wasn't so attractive with that expression. "'Baa-chan, Kasumi. BAA-CHAN!" She ground out for the last time.

I waited a moment, face contorted in thought, and saw both oka-sama and otou-sama relax (my sisters, of course, were oblivious). They expected me to agree with her? Well, then. "Obaa-sama."

Everyone face faulted. I just smiled and giggled. Akane and Nabiki did too, but only after blinking in confusing. Copycats. I would've pouted, but they were just so cute!

When Warakimi Kameimi regained her footing, she had on an all-too-sweet scary smile very similar to her daughter's; almost exact. '_Now I know where they get the temper from,_' I thought, thinking of oka-sama and Akane-chan.

Staring at me through half-lidded eyes, I started to sweat as my grandmother leaned in much too close. "You're the cutest little girl ever, aren't you?" she said loud enough for my parents to hear. I thought I heard otou-sama crying dramatic, happy tears about something ordinary in the background. I was too distracted by the **hands pinching my cheeks out of shape!**

Ow! I made a little whimpering noise that sounded absolutely pathetic, desperately trying to get her to let go and wipe the drool from my chin at the same time.

"That really hurt!" I wanted to say, but didn't get a chance to. As soon as obaa-sama released me, she spoke. "Kuni-baa-san," she muttered, glancing over her shoulder as she knelt down to my level at my parents.

Oka-sama was busy comforting otou-sama about something or other. The only words I could make out, barely, were 'family', my name, and 'cute'. Just, don't wanna know... Sigh and sweatdrop. They wouldn't notice anything until he calmed down. '_Baka otou-sama,_' I thought affectionately.

"Huh?" I blinked at obaa-sama, confused.

She wrinkled her nose at having to explain to a child what she meant. "Call me Kuni-baa-chan is you have to be polite, though baa-chan sounds better to me. You calling me obaa-sama makes me twitch." She scratched her wrist angrily in demonstration.

She definitely talked in an American manner. That made me smile.

And, of course, she just had to take my smile as confirmation.

"Good." She patted me on the shoulder, returning my earlier smile which was now a slightly bewildered expression. "Much better."

"Ano, obaa-" She cut me off with a look. "Kuni-baa-san," I settled, wanting to wince. That name just didn't sound right.

"Yes, Kasumi-chan?" she answered with a smile. I wonder if she ever not got her way... Oka-sama, at least, can compromise. I think.

"Why are you here, Kuni-baa-chan?" I tried out the name again, asking the question because I wanted confirmation in her answer. The name, though, still sounded wrong describing her.

Her smile turned sad, and she didn't answer for a moment. Digging through her monstrous bag that I bet could fit all three of us sisters with room to spare, she held up a large black jar with a label of English words. It read:

_**Ashes to Ashes and Dust to Dust,  
May you rest in peace eternal,**_

_**Warakimi Shiro  
1923-1990**_

Well, at least I know what year it is, now.

"I came to return your grandfather," she shifted the jar in her palm, looking sad, "to Japan."

I held a pensive look on my face, examining the jar that held my mother's father's ashes with close scrutiny. Kuni-baa-san wasn't sure what to make of me.

"I have I question," I said, looking up to meet her eyes, my face still close to the jar.

"Yes, Kasumi-chan?" She tried to sound bemused, but her sadness shown through. It's not easy hiding grief, especially for a lost love. Why else do you think I don't intend to have one? Besides those follow-me-through-my-reincarnations people who always ruin my chances...

Ugh. Never mind.

"Can I... hold it?" I asked tentantivity, not sure if I should. What I was about to do wasn't exactly sensitive, but I hope at the end she'd smile.

"Kasumi-chan..." Her expression dropped even though to made an effort to smile. The result was indescribable. "No, I..." She shook her head, at a loss for words.

Ok, then. On to Plan B.

"Kuni-baa-chan, how'd you...um...why'd you..." I trailed off. She starred at me curiously, eyes urging me to continue. "How tall is ojii-sama?"

Obaa-sama furrowed her brows, obviously confused by my question. "6 foot, why?"

"How many centimeters is that?"

"Oh, since it's 2.54 centimeters to the inch..." She rubbed the back of her head after trying to calculate. "Well, I'd say over 200 cm. (Math was never my strong point...)"

"Oh," I said, staring at the jar. "Then is it so small?"

"What's small?"

"The jar." I pointed to it, stating as if it was the most obvious thing in the world and I couldn't believe I had to point it out.

"Why wouldn't it be?" Her brows wrinkled more.

"Because ojii-sama's so tall!" I exclaimed.

"Well, yes, he was, but-" Kuni-baa-san looked overwhelmed.

"He must be awfully cramped in there," I said, still staring at the jar.

Silence filled the room; even otou-sama had stopped crying. Komeimi stared at me, eyes wide in surprise. I could feel the others hold their breath, wondering mentally how Kuni-baa-san would react. She surprised them all.

She laughed.

And everyone joined in, even Akane and Nabiki, though they were oblivious to what it was about.

I sat there, smiling at my achievement when the one thing I'd hoped would never come again watched us. Since that dream I'd had at the Aoki house, the feel's grown more intense, but not as often. What a way to ruin my mood.

Conversation continued on without me noticing, and I felt another pair of eyes watching me intently. Looking up sharply, I stared directly into Kuni-baa-san's dark eye. She, oka-sama and Akane-chan have the same eye color and shape, my mind observed absently.

I couldn't look away.

Though power didn't come up to feel my own this time, I felt a similar touch, this time in my mind. I was just as easy to block, if not more so, until the subtle touch began to burn.

'_Who are you?' it wanted to know, and kept asking without words._

'_I could ask you the same thing, though I have a rough idea,' I replied_. Everyone is the God of their own mind, and I was no exception. Well, since there were too of me there were two Gods, but really, you know what I mean. It couldn't do anything to me, but I could do anything to it.

'_Oh? Who do you think I am?' I could hear the smugness in its voice._

'_Stop using Kuni-baa-san to talk to me. You could just come out yourself,' I told it._

_It smirked. I knew it did, even though I couldn't see it. 'What makes you think I'm not your grandmother, Kasumi-chan?'_

'_Your not the first of your kind I've met,' I told it. Its aura was the same as _his_, but I didn't know why one of _them_ would be watching me._

'_Oh?'_

_Before it could say another word, I slammed an impenetrable wall around my mind. Ones of that kind could be very annoying if not dealt with properly, a.k.a. rudely. They were a strange sort; they liked being treated as such. The ones that weren't haughty and arrogant, anyway._

Kuni-baa-san was still staring at me. The second thing I noticed after that: oka-sama was carrying me. Apparently I'd fallen asleep while I was conversing, and the adult women of the family were talking me to my room.

How nice of them. Note the sarcasm.

But being in oka-sama's arms reminded me of the day I first came here, the day I was born, and the thought was a comfort to me. Deciding to relax, I knew I should enjoy peace while it lasted. Something told me things were about to get exiting.

-0-0-0-0-

Nng. I moaned, rubbing my eyes groggily. I could feel my hair sticking up at odd angles, and somehow my pillow had migrated across the room. Instead, I'd clutched Kurei while I slept, and still after.

I stared blearily around the room, wondering what time it was. Oka-sama had never seen fit to give me a glow-in-the-dark clock, though I did have a nightlight.

"What time is it?" I said out loud absently, clutching my stuffed dog toy tightly to my chest. I didn't expect an answer.

And was surprised when one came in the form of a voice. In my head. 'Around five in the morning, I'd say. Kumiko should be getting up soon,' my other self said.

"Why are you talking to me? You said that you couldn't."

'I never said that, Kasumi-chan. I only stated that I wasn't going to. But since the answers will begin to fall into place soon, I thought I might as well,' was her reply.

"Oh, alright, then." I sighed. "Why am I up?"

'Do you remember that night in Paris when our father and mother of Carnelian's life wholed themselves up in the cellar for four days talking?'

I nodded. "Yes, I do. What does that have to do with anything?"

'You hear the most interesting conversations when you eavesdrop, you know?' I could take an obvious hint when I heard one.

"On oka-sama and otou-sama?" I asked, just for confirmation.

I could see in my mind's eye her enigmatic smile as she answered, 'Otou-sama and oka-sama aren't the only adults here.'

"Huh." That explained it. But what would Kuni and my mother be talking about? I had many ideas in my head, but listening would be the only way to know for sure.

So I crept out of my room and let my instincts guide me. They'd become attuned with my sixth sense-Truth Vision and led me to the kitchen. I couldn't very well go in, so I settled within earshot and prepared myself to hear world-scattering things. Wasn't that what normally happened when the main character of a story eavesdropped?

"-should." Kuni-baa-san was the first I heard, finishing a sentence.

"No. Absolutely not." Oka-sama slammed a glass on the counter, sounding angry and outraged, bordering on panic.

"Kumi-chan-"

"Don't use my pet name here, Mother," oka-sama warned, switching to English. I thought they couldn't sense my presence, but wasn't sure.

"Why not?"

"Because, you-"

"-want to take your daughter home with me. I know, I know. But, Kumi-chan-"

"No nicknames!"

I stared, wide eyed, at the wall. Which one of us, and for what reason? The US wouldn't be so bad, and I'd be able to see the differences between my world and this one. But what if it wasn't me they were talking about? It could be Nabi-chan or Aka-chan, though I hoped not. They were just too young. Then again, in my mother's eyes, so was I.

"Alright, no pet names. But I really don't see the problem. You have two other wonderful daughters. After a while, you wouldn't even know one was missing." What was she saying!

"Like with me?" oka-sama asked in a dark voice.

Kuni-baa-san's tone turned soft. "No. I missed you everyday you were gone. But this has nothing to do with Shiro and I. Think it over, Kumiko."

"No!" oka-sama cried. "You're not taking Kasumi-chan away from me!"

So it was me they were talking about. But why would my grandmother want me in the US? Did she sense what had happened yesterday afternoon, when my watcher challenged itself through her? Hopefully not. They were pretty thorough about cleaning up their trails. That's how they'd existed so long, after all.

"She has great potential in her, Kumiko. We can't let that go to waste."

"You mean you can't let it go to waste. I was taught by Father just fine, and I'll start teaching my daughter when I think she's ready. She-"

"-is already ready. Just this afternoon, when I tested her stores-"

"You what!" Kuni-baa-san ignored her daughter's outburst.

"-I found them overflowing. She also has detection skills; she unconsciously blocked most of her power from me, but from what I wager, it's well beyond someone of her age's normal levels. She's a prodigy, child. She needs to be trained or the strain of her powers will become too much and..." Kuni trailed off, and a sad silence of remembrance filled the kitchen.

"I won't let my child turn out like Kari. What happened then..." I knew Kumiko wanted to finish with, 'it's all your fault,' but didn't. Whatever had happened to this Kari person had affected both of them deeply. Oka-sama was just more inclined to showing it.

"I know." Kuni-baa-san's voice was full of regret. "And it won't, if only you'd let me train her."

"She won't be a replacement for me."

"She won't." Her voice was sincere.

"...I'll think about it. I'm not promising anything."

"That's all I ask."

The conversation ended there, and other things I wasn't inclined to listen to were discussed. I, lost in my thoughts, ignored the pleasant background murmur and tried to process what I'd just heard.

The US? Being trained by Kuni? Way from the only family I've known here for who knows how long?

I let my emotions wash over me, then began to calculate the pros and cons.

It would be nice to see this world's version of my last life's home. But she might want me to stay until I was grown, and that would ruin all my plans! Who would take care of the family after oka-sama passed away? (I still didn't know how.) Or calm Akane-chan down the first time she met Ranma?

Most importantly, would my disappearance change the plot all together.

The answer, I knew, was yes. And though I had plans to change the original plot, Kasumi not being here would defeat the whole purpose of myself being sent.

But the US, with more freedom of movement when I was old enough. I had no illusions that before, during, and after my adolescence otou-sama would be extremely strict. He already was.

America. New people, place, I hadn't seen before. Being taught directly, instead of sneaking around and reading books I hardly understood at first.

I didn't even know if I was going or not and ideas began to pop into my head at random intervals. I could rework my plans in a week or so if I really tried. All I needed was time.

The US. I sighed dreamily, staring up at the ceiling without really seeing anything.

Until seven, when I crept back to my room and waited for oka-sama to come and collect me, I thought.

-0-0-0-0-

home with Akane (Kuni, Nabiki and oka-sama shopping, Soun at tournament, Li Mein left to baby-sit)

Around eleven that morning, Kuni-baa-san took oka-sama and Nabiki-chan shopping. They said they had a lot to catch up on, but personally, I think obaa-sama just wanted time to influence her daughter's decision.

Otou-sama, earlier this morning, left for the district's Young Martial Arts Competition where some of his newest students were competing. As it was there first tournament and they needed their sensei for encouragement, he couldn't miss it. At least he hadn't cried all that much when saying good bye.

Akane-chan, always following him around, wanted to go with otou-sama. But she couldn't, and was now pouting in a corner. Our father was most apologetic, but there was an age limit to the area.

Thus, with only Akane, Li Mein and me here, I was bored out of my mind.

I couldn't read any books; that would be suspicious. Well, I could read the books oka-sama bought for me last month, but they were long since memorized. Practicing kata would make Li-kun wonder even more; I was supposed to be only interested in learning and have no talent at martial arts, for all my father's trying.

So there was only one thing left to do: look after Aka-chan.

Not that it was hard or anything. It's just, Akane was a very active child, but when she wasn't, could sit very still and stare off into space without moving. Surprising, I know. Otou-sama called it mediating (yes, he cried), but I called it 'sleeping-with-you-eyes-open. She only needed that nose bubble. If she had one, it would be fun to pop.

Li Mein sighed behind me, and I knew he finished the chores assigned. Since we three girls were too young, most of otou-sama's students got saddled with extra work. No one complained, not since one of them talked back to oka-sama while she was making a complicated meal.

Man she has a nasty temper...

Needless to say, everyone was proud to do as they were told, if a little more scared (i.e. fearing for their lives if they mess up). Akane, who watched them sometimes, laughed at them. And when one started at the noise, glancing around with a frightened expression on his or her face, she giggled even more.

My sister. Such an odd little girl.

Then again, so were Nabiki-chan and I. Oka-sama, however, never noticed anything odd and just excepted things as they were. Akane-chan inherited both our parent's denseness, when Nabi-chan and I were spared. Thank goodness!

I sat on the landing overlooking our koi pond, swinging my feet absently against the wood. Akane, still sulking by the outside wall and ignoring me, dug with a stick in the dirt, abandoning her earlier 'meditation'.

Li Mein, indeed done with work, took a seat beside me. We'd hardly had a chance to talk in two months, and I missed our conversations. He was special to me, and the only one besides my other self who would actually talk to me like an adult and not the child I was supposed to be.

Kami-sama, that moment, I missed Shin with an intensity I hadn't felt before. He was someone who knew what was going on, even if he didn't talk about it, and could see me for who I really was.

But six months is an eternity to a five year old. And that is what I am, in body and most emotional capacity.

"How have you been, Kasumi-san?" Li-kun asked, startling me out of my thoughts.

I turned my head to look at him, and saw his kind smile. I couldn't help returning it with one of my own. Li-kun is just one of those charismatic people; an indescribable person. I'm truly grateful to have a friend like him.

"Good, Li-kun. You?"

"Fine. Just fine." He stared off into the distance, in Akane-chan's direction. I knew he was hesitant to ask whatever it was, my considerate friend. But he did anyway. "Is it upsetting you?"

"Huh?" I glanced at him, wondering if he knew about Kuni-baa-san's offer to take me to the US. "Is what?"

He looked away still, this time at the ground. A blush colored his face pale pink, and I wasn't quite sure what to do or say. "Well, that you never met your ojii-san before he..."

"Oh." I paused, fiddling with my hands. "No. I never knew him, so how can I miss him?" Maybe not the normal words a five year old would use, but Li-kun knew me well enough to tell if my speech pattern changed.

"Ah. It's normal, don't worry." Yes, he knew me well.

At the same time, we whipped around and stared at the outer wall across from us. Someone stared with malice at our home, holding something heavy in their hands. From their aura signal, they were young, maybe a little younger than me, and felt familiar, though I couldn't quite place them.

"Li-kun," I whispered. There was no need for other words.

"Yes." He nodded once, then vanisioned. It was a special techneick he'd developed on his own, that I'd copied with much practice. He became invisible to the naked eye, but one could still hear or smell him. It had its flaws, but for a teen to create it with no help from his master was quite impressive.

A strange aura. It was definitely male, but the feelings were so mixed I couldn't tell who. I'd figure it out in a moment, but I didn't know if I had that much time.

Seconds ticked by, and the only noise came from Akane-chan, still playing in the dirt. Even the fish in the koi pond were silent, as were the insects.

The stranger made his first move: he threw the heavy thing he'd held over the wall. It landed in our koi pond with a big slash and 'thunk' as it sunk to the bottom.

While in the air, I'd gotten a good look at the offending object: an orange training ball that Akane-chan used to beat neighborhood boys up with that weighted about five kilos. She said she'd lost it, but in reality, one of the braver parents confiscated it.

Who's mother had that been?

Oh! Takaya Momoko, who lived about a block away! She had a son around four who used to pick on younger girls to get their attention. Akane beat him up a couple times a week until he stopped. The girls were thankful, but he obviously wasn't.

Li-kun jumped over the wall and followed in pursuit of the terrified boy. I followed them with my Far Length part of my Truth Vision, laughing to myself when the boy wet himself. I couldn't help but feel sorry, too, but he dissevered it. If that ball had hit, it could've killed Akane or I. Childs' heads are much softer than adults'.

The boy ran all the way home with Li chasing him. He would learn his lesson further, I knew, when his mother knew what he'd gone and done. My father's student would make sure of that.

I was distracted; and as anyone who has taken care of a younger child knows, being distracted around one could be a fatal error.

Did I mention how much Akane loved that ball?

Later, I knew that when she'd seen the orange object in the bottom of the koi pond, she'd reached in to get it. But our koi pond was deep enough for a grown man to stand waist-deep, and my little sister misjudged the distance.

Before I could do anything, I saw her fall in.

When someone you love is about to die before your eyes, you either freeze or time slows down. Guess what? It was the later for me.

There wasn't much I could do, though. I had a child's body with a child's strength, and I didn't know how to swim, either, in this form. I could probably manage, but then, who would save the both of us.

Li-kun, hurry quietly.

I screamed and shouted at the top of my lungs, knowing the neighbors could here me. Our home was never noisy, and a disturbance would be immediately investigated.

"Someone help!" But I didn't wait; I grabbed a long stick and stuck it out over the water.

"Grab on!" I told Akane-chan.

She did her best, but she couldn't get a good grip and her hand kept slipping. Time was moving faster now, so I made it slow down.

What could I do? If an adult didn't come soon...

I pulled all my power into one tremendous shout, "LI!"

And he was there.

Most of my memory is blurry after that, but I knew that the woman who lives next door called the police and an ambulance, and Akane-chan was taken to a nearby hospital. Oka-sama rode with her on the way; the rest of us waited for a taxi.

You know, I don't know how my parents and grandmother got home so fast. Cell phones don't exist yet, after all...

I was barely conscious of anything due to exhaustion and stress. Kuni-baa-san held me tightly, and I didn't mind. Anyone else. Even otou-sama, I would have. But not her.

What I did notice was something odd: otou-sama was talking to Li-kun and addressing him by his given name instead of 'boy' and 'son'. What?

"Li, my boy, I don't know how to thank you enough?" Li was being patted roughly on the shoulder, though it seemed to be much more of a shove than anything else.

Why wasn't outo-sama crying? I don't understand.

"Well, sir, I couldn't just watch and let Akane-san drown." He bowed politely. "Really, it was no trouble."

"Oh, come now. Don't be modest; you saved my heir's life." His eyes teared, but Soun held himself in check. "There must be something we can reward you to show our appreciation."

"No." Li shook his head earnestly, black bangs falling in his expressive eyes. "Knowing your daughter is safe is all I need." He glanced in my direction, and I gave what I hoped to be an encouraging smile.

"Ah." Otou-sama caught our shared look, and had an arrogant 'knowing' expression on his face coupled with the 'I-deserve-to-be-malleted' grin. This wouldn't go well. "I have an idea. Why don't you become engaged to one of my daughters? A promising, kind young man like you will take care of her." Otou-sama nodded long as he talked.

Li-kun shook his head 'no', expression troubled. "But, sir, they're still children!"

"So are you, lad. Now, which one would you choose?"

"But, sir-" Li-kun was troubled and pale. I knew he was thinking how unfair my father was being.

I knew he'd be beaten to the ground later by oka-sama for this. Only that thought held me in check.

"Kasumi-chan it is then, since you're so worried about age." My eyes widened. "You hear that, Kasumi-chan? You have a fiancé now?" otou-sama called to me, happy.

"What's a fiancé?" I asked Kuni-baa-san, who looked like she wanted to say something.

She'd almost bitten through her bottom lip, and her face was unusually pale, but somehow she managed a convincing smile. "People are engaged before they get married. A person engaged is called the other person's fiancé. Do you understand?" she asked patiently.

"Hai!" I nodded. "But why am I going to marry Li-kun?"

"Because your father wants you to." Kuni-baa-san looked ready to throttle.

I decided I liked having a whole father, and said. "Oka-sama said to only do what otou-sama says when she's in the room."

She laughed. I smiled, and then frowned.

"When would I marry Li-kun, Kuni-baa-san?" I kept myself from wincing. That name just didn't suit her. Or maybe it did and I just hadn't noticed it yet.

"You would marry him when you want to, Kasumi. But you don't have to."

"I don't think I want to get married," I said matter of faculty, turning my sympathetic gaze to Li-kun. My Truth Sight was still on, and the aural part's kicked in somehow. Looking at his aura more thoroughly now, I noticed something odd: two auras over lapped, one trying to hide the other. What could that mean?

Obaa-sama gave me a curious look. "Why not, Kasumi-chan?"

"I don't want to beat anyone up." Kuni-baa-san stared at me blankly. "I'm not good at hitting things with a mallet like oka-sama does or practicing the forms like otou-sama. Akane-chan is, though. That's why she's the heir."

She laughed and laughed after that, and I just went on staring at Li-kun. I wanted to know what the swirling, overlapping colors meant.

'Someone has his essence tangled in a Compulsion Web. It's been done, or redone, recently. Don't the colors look familiar, too?' My other self talked to me now. Joy.

'_Shouldn't you be silent? There are other people here_.'

'Yes, I know. But I trust myself enough not to squeak in surprise at something like this.'

'_Oh, alright. But a Compulsion Web? Didn't Shin say they were outlawed years ago?_'

'Just so, but you should know that not everyone follows the rules.'

'_Oh, yes, I know, and have been one of those people. But how do we untangle it?_'

'We'd need a Spiritualist's help with that. Someone like, say, **Shin**?'

Sigh. '_Oh, I get the hint. Way to be obvious. I'll call him tonight, if you'll tell me how._'

Her voice was sad, and so was her smile (which I could feel). 'You already know how. Just open your heart.' Her presence faded from the front of my mind and back into the garden.

'_Well that's new. _Open your heart?_ How original. Something tells me this is going to be a long night._'

Akane-chan, now I know why you can't swim. After that, I wouldn't want to be near water.

Why did otou-sama have to go and pull a Genma? I hope oka-sama came home soon to punish him...

I fell asleep in Kuni-baa-san's arms, hoping that when I woke up, things would be sorted out. Unlikely, but you can dream, ne?

-0-0-0-0-

"So. I'm here."

My other self and I sat in the middle of a circle of trees, picnic baskets and empty dishes lying around us. Since neither of us could really eat in this part of the forest (it was closer to consciousness than either of us felt comfortable with), I'd decided to forgo the food I usually had appear.

"Yes, you are," she agreed, sipping her cup of tea calmly.

Like I said, there are two of me, therefore two Gods of my mind. She hardly ever used her control over this place; she just really liked tea, and made some when she felt like it. I didn't mind; my mind is her mind, literally.

"So? What do I do now?" I asked, twitching. Please don't be a cryptic answer, I prayed. Please don't be a-

"What does your heart say?" Her face was just too calm when she asked that, as if at peace with the world. She most likely is, too. I must admit, she's much more Kasumi-like than I am.

Bingo. Cryptic answer.

I twitched and said, "It thinks you're avoiding a direct answer."

"No, Kasumi-chan, that would be your head," she pointed out, smiling matter-of-factly.

"Oh." Silence. "How do you listen?"

"It's all inside of you."

"You're beginning to sound like one of those conspiracy people on informational who try to sell you their self-invented spirituality."

"I'm sure they make a lot of people happy."

"Yeah, but they also get a lot of money before going to jail."

"It's illegal, than?"

"Yes."

"Oh. Alright then."

More silence.

Then she pulled out her knitting.

"What are you making?"

"A sweater for winter. I don't want to catch a cold or be stuck indoors."

"..."

"Yes?"

"It's never going to snow here."

"Oh, really? Well, better to err on the side of caution, as they say."

"Who says?"

"They, of course."

"..."

"Is something the matter? Your knuckles are white and your jaw is cracking."

"Are you doing this on purpose," I ground out.

"Why, yes. Isn't it helping?"

"Why would it?"

"So you'll leave me to my knitting and search inside yourself." If only she looked smug...

"Ah. Do I have to run around and find a book of spells or something in my mind?"

"No. All you have to do is call."

"Oh, yes, that's incredibly simple." Notice my sarcasm.

She blinked. "Isn't it?"

"No, not to me. I need help. Will you at least **hint** in plain terms?" I almost-but-not-quite-OK-I-did begged.

"All you need is-" she began to recite.

"-inside of me, I know. But we _are_ inside of me, and I see nothing but trees and grass out there." I stared off into the distance, picking up traces of clouds in the sky. I'd have to fix that and put more later.

"Anything you want can happen here. What do you want?"

"To see Shin." It finally dawned on me. "Oh." So _that's_ all I had to do...

"Better?" she asked, laying a hand on my shoulder.

"Yes." I smiled a thank you. "I'll be going now. Over there." I pointed, suddenly feeling sheepish.

She nodded her understanding. "Alright. Come back when you've finished whatever needs done."

"I will."

With that, I walked off, deeper into my subconscious. I could've flown, but now didn't really seem the time.

I was still in shock from what had happened that afternoon. Akane-chan almost drowning... I didn't see that coming. And obaa-sama's arrival, talking with the person who's been watching me, and who turns out to be one of _them_...

None of it.

At least I have my plans. If oka-sama consents to me leaving, I could plant the seeds earlier, otherwise I'll have to wait until high school. I don't even know if I want to continue school, boring as it is. I'd be homeschooled with Kuni-baa-san, I think...

But that isn't what I should be thinking about right now. Getting too tangled in recent events will distract me, and I need all of my concentration focused on Shin now.

Wonder how I'm suddenly remembering all this stuff? Well, to put it simply: as I age, mentally and physically, I unlock my memories, like in a Role-Playing Game. Sometimes they rule my subconscious and I have the same doubts and fears I had in whatever life it was.

Now, I'm beginning to separate things. I can call upon the memories at will, though the rest are within my other self. I'll have to wait a while, years perhaps, to know them.

But how do I know, now, how to call Shin-kun?

Dealing with _them_, the ones like my watcher, I picked up a little (alright, maybe more than a little) knowledge about how things worked Up There. No, they're not Gods, or Angels, oni, demons, fairies or any other creature you can think of. They exist specifically, I had thought, in only two universes and could only meddle in one.

I guess I heard wrong.

But I'll explain about that later.

Currently, I sat cross-legged in the middle of the clearing, eyes shut and concentrating on what was around me. My mind was a familiar place, and I could feel everything that existed in it when I mediated like this.

It was simple, really, to pick out something I hadn't created. It was like a black dot on a white page, and my attention was drawn right away.

For one long moment I regarded the hidden being, currently in the shape of a squirrel (a normal one, not one of the big ones that eat your brain and made you crazy). It hadn't noticed me yet, but it would soon. There was nothing to fear from it, I knew. It's only function was to warn Shin if I was in danger.

I didn't have to pretend I was, to get its attention. Instead, I appeared behind it and whispered, "Boo."

It jumped in surprise and turned back into its original form: a puffy, pink thing with huge eyes that looked like the mascot for some anime, Powerpuff style. Creepy.

I wonder why Shin's Scout was like that, but I decided to ask him, or it, later.

Repressing my instinctive shudder at its appearance, I grinned at the frightened thing. "Hello, there. What can I call you?"

"Ini," it said. "You call?"

Unlike most messengers (shikigami), Scouts could talk. If you trained it right, that is. I guess Shin hadn't had the time to. "You should know my name by now, Ini." Its name, though, wasn't that weird, considering.

"Know." It wobbled its body in what I thought passed for a nod. "Kasumi now."

"Yes." I leaned back against a tree, waiting Ini to let its guard down. Thought it wasn't hard to trick Scouts, getting them to do what you wanted when asked was hard. If you told them instead of tricking them, though, they wouldn't misunderstand and blow you up, though.

Ini bobbed in the air, and I had a hard time to keep from laughing. Focus, I told myself. Focus.

Ini came closer, loosing some of its instinctive fear of me. I waited for it to actually approach me, which could take a while. But if you ignore something with the intellect of a three year old, minus the learn-from-experience part, what will happen?

Attention is sought after by a great many people. It just so happened that a floating pink puff-ball wanted mine.

It would have to work for it, like any pet.

Just a little closer...

It came right up to me, close enough for me to pet it. I did, scratching it behind the watchamacallits until it began to make a 'murr' sound, its equivalent of a purr. Then I grabbed it, gently but firmly, the weak points just behind the watchamacallits.

Don't ask. It's really hard to explain if you don't know what I already mean.

"Go. Let go," it said, struggling a little. But I held on, and it soon realized it couldn't move without me letting go, which I wouldn't.

"No," I said firmly. "I'm sorry, Ini, but I called and called but he didn't come. You're the only one who can reach him at any time, anywhere. So call him for me, will you?"

"Who?" it asked, eyes honestly confused.

I softened my voice, though I still wanted to either choke or laugh. Close up, Ini was actually, kinda, cute. "Shin, Ini. The one who sent you here."

"Shin? Ini no know Shin. Ini only now Mistress," it said.

I sighed. So someone else was monitoring me? And here I thought Shin's reinforced spell had blocked everyone one but my watcher out.

Who could his mistress be?

I asked.

It answered simply and directly. The answer gave me the feeling of being kicked repeatedly in the stomach and filled me with confusion all at the same time.

"Hareru-sama," it said happily, forgetting my hands as it tried to do a back flip.

'_Why would Shin's secretary/personal assistant send a Scout to watch me? Unless... No, it couldn't be..._' But we all know it usually meant it was.

-0-0- -0-0-

A/N: Alright, people I need a **beta**. Any volunteers?

Next chapter: Chapter 9: Who is the one that's been watching Kasumi since her arrival? We may just find out...  
_Sister Shadow/Li_


	10. A: Finding Hareru

**Broken Mirror Reflecting  
By: **_Shadow/Li_

Disclaimer: I don't own Ranma ½, only the plot ideas. And a few OC.

Summary: The spirit to be reincarnated as Tendo Kasumi turns out to be unavailable when it is called, so another is sent in her place. This soul, however, remembers everything of it's many past lives, a female otaku in the most recent. Armed with the knowledge of what the future of Nerima holds, she begins to plan for the future while trying to forget something in the past.

Crossovers: Characters: Naruto

A/N: No Excuses. Just read.

-0-0- -0-0-

_Chapter Nine, Part A: Finding Hareru_

-0-0- -0-0-

_Who could its mistress be?_

_I asked._

_It answered simply and directly. The answer gave me the feeling of being kicked repeatedly in the stomach and filled me with confusion all at the same time._

"_Hareru-sama," it said happily, forgetting my hands as it tried to do a back flip._

'_Why would Shin's secretary/personal assistant send a Scout to watch me? Unless... No, it couldn't be...' But we all know it usually meant it was._

-0-0-0-0-

"It can't be," I muttered again to myself, feeling weak. '_Could all my teasing be true? Could Hareru... be jealous of me?_' Because if she's jealous, that means she likes Shin and did the anime-thing of becoming his secretary to be close to him or something.

That would just be too complicated. And shojo-classic.

Sighing, I closed my eyes and practiced regular, deep breathing. I felt the urge to sigh again, but squashed it. I didn't want to grow up and be as short as Edward from Fullmetal Alchemist. Did I?

Noise drew my attention from my thoughts and I through my lashes to find the source, only to see that I was still holding it. Ini, forgetting to be uncomfortable about being captured, was in the middle of singing what seemed to be a song using only its and its mistress' name sounds.

"Ini," I interrupted it mid nonsense word.

It squeaked and fell silent, staring at me with huge, terrified eyes. "Sorry. Ini singing too loud? Mistress angry when Ini sing too loud."

I shook my head at its ramblings, using patients I didn't know I had. (And was steadily decreasing.) "Your singing is fine." It interrupted me before I could continue.

"Really? Scary Kasumi person liked my singing?" it asked in surprise, staring up at me in awed confusion. Oh, no...

I bit back another sigh and forced myself to answer, "Yes."

Eyes sparkling with adoration, it began to 'murr' again, this time louder than when I petted it. "Maybe Kasumi not so scary," it said. "Because mistress no like my singing and she scary sometimes."

"Everyone has times like that," I stated absently. "I have a favor to ask, Ini. If you agree, I'll let you go."

"Oh! Ini like favors! Favors just like presents!" It began to wiggle in my hands, causing me to tightened my hold. If it kept this up I might hurt it by accident, which wouldn't help my cause.

"Yes, yes," I muttered, patients thinning. "Can you take me to your mistress, Ini?"

It blinked at me, now still. "That you favor? Easy!"

"So your answer is 'yes'?" I asked, just for clarification.

It nodded. "Yes!"

I released it.

Ini circled above me several times, glad to be free again.

"Ini's never been asked to do a favor before. Why you ask?" It zoomed around my head, and I had to trust it enough not to run off again. Not that it could, really, since it was insanely curious.

I wrinkled my brow. "Isn't that only polite?"

"Polite? What that mean?" Floating down close to my face, it stayed there, wanting an answer. Curiosity killed the cat; but I'm a hypocrite to be saying that.

Blinking and giving into the urge to sigh, I thought, '_Does it only have the capacity to think like a three year old? Wait, stupid question. Makes me wonder what Hareru-san's gunna be like._' It reminded me of a rather dim child with a shorter-than-ADD attention span, anyway.

"Well," I stalled, mind racing for a way to explain. "It's something you do because it's expected of you." I hoped that would suffice.

It seemed it didn't, for Ini still stared at me with wide, curious eyes much too far into my personal space. This Scout lacked manners, which reflected off its Summoner. Hareru-san must be a very rude person.

"Why you expected to do?" I think it drew even closer to me. Such. Big. Eyes.

I took a calming breath, leaned back as far as I could without moving my feet, and mentally squashed the urge to twitch. All I wanted was to find out how to see Shin-kun from Hareru-san, not deal with this rude, oh-so-cute-and-cuddly-it-makes-you-sick, pink fluff ball.

Mentally, I panted and twitched. I then took a step back from my frustrated anger and irritation, neither of which were beneficial to my agenda.

"It is expected of you," I answered at last, "because our culture has rules. If we didn't have rules, than there would be chaos. People could do whatever they wanted with no limitations." I stopped there, any further and I'd have to explain the much debated theories of Chaos vs. Order and what not. "You can ask your mistress more about it when we see her. " Hint hint.

I was being as blandly obvious as I could without saying it out right. Ini wasn't much for subtlety, was it? Not that I'm surprised, it behaved like the classic idiot. But something about Ini reminded me of an old friend.

Hopefully I'll remember later. Currently, I need to focus. Reminiscing thoughts can only cause trouble right now.

"Oh." Ini frowned a little, but perked up enough to fly away from my face. It had followed me in my near-backbend, and I was starting to cramp. (Not really; anything is possible to a certain degree when you're in your own mind.)

"How will you take me with you, Ini?" I asked, keeping a close eye of its actions.

"Touch my ---- and we go," it said unenthusiastically, a 180 from its past attitude. Floating close enough to reach, I saw Ini's frown and half eyes.

I'm going to regret this, I decided, but, "What's the matter?"

The trees around us turned a grayish color, and I wondered how much time I had before I woke up. Enough, I hoped, to comfort the fluff ball, speak to Hareru and maybe contact Shin.

"Mistress never explains anything to Ini." Eyes downcast, body color dulling, it even sighed from sadness. It was impossible not to feel sorry for the cute little bugger, no matter how fast his mood-swings were.

"Ini," I said, sympathy lacing my voice as I touched his ---- spot, just below where I'd scratched earlier. "I'll explain later. I just-" This was so frustrating; I could feel the edges of my eyes tearing, but I would cry.

"Please," I whispered, emotion softening my now-hoarse voice even more. Only half of this was an act, not that I'd admit it anywhere but in my thoughts.

Ini's eyes welled with sympathetic tears, and it gave a nod, which moved its entire body. 'Ini understands."

Suddenly, it let out a gurgling sound, than an inhuman, high-pitched whine. This was a spirit language that could only be understood in a Neutral plain, not in someone's head. Like mine.

It hurt my ears to listen, but I couldn't cover them without letting Ini go. If I did, finding Hareru would be near impossible without her Scout guide. Deep breaths, I thought, even though no oxygen existed here.

White light, blinding, surrounded us. Though it only lasted a moment, I couldn't help but wince in reflex, and tightly held my eyes shut. It really wasn't painful, but I now inhabited a body, and expectations become ingrained, even if you are in a situation like mine. (Physics, for example, only apply in spirit form if you expect them to be.)

I didn't feel anything physical, but my sixth sense told me we were now on another plane. Hopefully a Neutral one.

Blinking the spots from my vision, I took in my new surroundings. White was the only color to describe the place around us. It was hard to focus beyond a certain point, but as I turned around in slow circles, it became easier to take in.

This was what most people expected Limbo to look like, at least from movies, books, and how they described it. Everything was white and misty, though it lacked the wet dampness one would normally feel.

"One to all receive us; Your paths so we may find our way; To know enigmatic themes on sight; To understand-" A voice whispered in a language I hadn't been able to understand.

Yup, Neutral. I could now understand what Ini was saying.

Except, it wasn't Ini talking.

Whipping my head around so fast I expected my neck to crack (but it didn't because of where I was), I tried to gage where the speaker was.

All I saw was white. There was no one there.

I knew I wasn't imagining things; I felt a presence with all of my senses, counted scientifically and otherwise. This person, whoever it was, had underlying power that I could barely feel, but had no threat in its signal.

"-what lies beyond; Beyond this vast abyss; O Lorin, Redeemer; To have all knowledge; Fallen faith of mine-" continued the voice, now coming from all directions.

I clutched Ini tighter and raised it to my eye level, suspicions rising. "Where are we, Ini?"

Trembling in my pale grip (I now looked like I did when Shin first came to me, somehow), Ini managed a stuttered reply. "I-Ini doesn't kn-know! Mis-mistress come here often. Say, 'Meet here.' So I come and she not here!"

It flinched as I scrutinized it closer, frowning in thought. Ini couldn't lie, I knew that. Scouts were, in essence, something like shikigami, but with their own will. A Scout couldn't lie, though, for some reason, nor did it have a gender, only thought on a level equally with its owner. Usually. Sometimes, things happened. Sometimes the Scout manifested too early in life and never matured beyond its first understanding. Other times, it never came in spiritual form, but was born as an animal (never human) in some physical dimension.

Scouts could only travel to places it had been sometimes before, or a place specified by its owner.

So, indeed, it was telling the truth.

Relaxing, I relaxed my tense shoulders and loosened my grip, surprising Ini. From its expression, it had expected me to hit it or something.

Wait. Violence couldn't be done to Scouts without hurting oneself. It was like a force field protected them from harm or the intent alerted one of their mysterious abilities to surface.

But enough about Scouts. I needed to see Shin-kun. Or, at least, get some answers out of Hareru.

"I'm sorry, Ini," I said, straightening and releasing the shocked Scout, who forgot to float for a minute and dropped toward the white floor. Or what I supposed was the floor. Directions were more than distorted in here; they didn't exist.

"Ini is fine," it reassured me, sticking close as I began to walk. "No one ever say 'sorry' to Ini before. Why-"

I cut it off. "Now's not the time, Ini. We can satisfy your curiosity later. Like after I see Shin, or your mistress."

Ini puffed out its side-cheek-things in its version of a pout and whined, "Always Shin or mistress, never Ini. Mostly, Shin, though, and mistress get mad."

"What do you mean?" I asked, trying not to sound too eager. The voice of whoever was still chanting but I just tuned them out. The pray was only a poem, as far as I could tell, and was now being repeated again.

Ini, happy at the attention and chance to talk, explained, "Everyone talk about Shin at office (that's what mistress calls small place people crowd and make odd noise) 'like he God' and forget mistress. Mistress say bad words about Shin and tell Ini never repeat. She talk and talk and make scary laugh. Then she quiet and shy at desk when Shin come back. She say things to him while Ini hide and listen. Mistress one way then next in blink."

"Ah," was my only comment. Well, that explained a few things. Hareru was probably a wanna-be manipulator who hid her true personality behind a mask of quiet shyness.

Man, this is getting so cliché.

"Ini," I said, deciding to stop walking as an idea hit me. I didn't know if it would work, but it seemed the best choice instead of walking the length and breathe of this strange, disorienting place.

"Yes, Kasumi person?" It now trusted me completely, which wasn't that odd, but made me realize just how naive and innocent Ini actually was. If only it wasn't pink. And powerpuffy.

"Could you take me to the office? Or back to my mind?" Before it could answer, I continued hurriedly, "If you aren't too tired, that is. Or don't want to." Ugh. I sound like a teenager all over again.

"I take to office," Ini decided without thinking. Elaborating, "Kasumi want to see Shin or mistress. Ini help. Ini do Kasumi favor." It smiled at me, and I understood. Ini had never experienced independence or friendship before.

Grinning back, I decided, I would help it along the way. That's what friends are for, and that's what Ini is. A friend.

But, of course, Ini itself didn't understand, just felt and did what instant told it to. Or what it had seen other people do in the same situation to get the wanted reaction.

"OK, Ini." Unsaid, though I knew it heard me, was 'Thank you."

Floating close, my newly decided friend let me grab onto its places before it did whatever Scouts do. Again I experienced the now-familiar feeling of being nowhere, seeing nothing, and hearing only my own thoughts. How anyone could do this without necessity, I couldn't guess.

-0-0-0-0-

Twitch. Twitch again.

"Sorry," Ini said in a small voice for the fifth time. "Ini doesn't have experience with passenger."

"And you tell me this **now**?" I asked quietly but dangerously, unwilling to speak louder than a whisper as we waited for the whoever-people to go away.

Five attempts with a promise that this time it would work, that the world wouldn't have giant dancing Easter eggs chasing a white rabbit, or purple flying alligators that belched the alphabet in smoke. Five worlds and this one just had to be a physical jungle. Nothing could hurt them (they were basically ghosts), but being spotted by the locals wouldn't be a good idea. Especially these ones.

They looked, and seemed, like a normal, sub-culture before things like consumerism and industrialism were as they are today. But there auras had something funky about them, as if they weren't quite there to begin with, but artificial.

The larger man was saying to the smaller one, who looked to be his son, "Na to koka koe i whangai ma tona waiu."

The smaller's reply was a grunt.

They passed without noticing us. Once I knew that they were far, far away, I pulled Ini to me. Before it could activate its travel mechanism, I whispered, "I'll give you stability if you can concentrate long enough to get a signal." Though I'm not sure Ini understood, it nonetheless nodded consent.

For the first time, I merged my power with someone else besides myself. (My other self. You know, the one that we-I subconsciously created to hold what I can't understand, or don't want know.) It wasn't that hard, just took up a lot of concentration. And tickled my insides.

I don't think I've had the urge to laugh and cry at the same time because of something psychical before. (Or as physical as one can get when one is a glowing spirit.)

Again, the world was white when I could see clearly again. The in-between had no color, texture or force, but everything tended to go black when the world was suddenly wiped blank.

White, I thought dryly as I blinked spots from my eyes, was becoming the new pink.

The room -yes, room- wasn't the no-space kind of white that'd populated the poem-voice dimension, but the washy kind of white found in hospitals and offices. And that's where we were, apparently. In an office.

"Hello and welcome to the Interdimensional Help Center (IHC)," said the overly-cheerful receptionist. She smiled at us, showing enough teeth to warn a jungle full of monkeys, and leaned over her folded hands, nearly off the desk. "The Director is currently out. If you would like to leave a message, please fill out these forms."

Backing up as the thing (I hesitated to call it a 'she', as I sensed that it was a Sending but not) shoved a stack of appearing-from-nowhere papers at me, I wondered, '_Do those teeth ever get sunburned?_' It was something I always thought, seeing those people with perfectly white teeth and creepy smiles in TV commercials.

"We aren't here to see the Director unless his name's Shin," I said, pushing the papers back at her. "Could you be a darling whatever you are and get Hareru in here?" The Sending-but-not-quite opened its mouth to protest, but I cut it off. "And if you don't know her signature, it's the same as Ini's."

I shoved the fluff ball into the no longer smiling thing's face. Pink and childish as Ini is, it just had to raise an arm (I think it's an arm, though it looks more like a flipper), smile cutely with the arches included, and squeak, "Hi!"

However made the receptionist must love the reactions of teenage girls, because this one reacted the same as they did whenever anything 'cute' was around. It gushed and cooed and cuddled, which Ini loved, and instructed Workers through the speaker phone to go and find the lady named Hareru, who it had never heard of.

Unsure if this was the right place, but inclined to wait, I did the only thing I could: took a seat and tuned out Ini's attention seeking with a lesser made creature.

Why am I calling an obviously hired-to-be-sexually-harassed 'girl' an 'it', 'thing', and 'creature'? Well, let me explain.

Sendings, or a more familiar term 'shikigami', are created for menial tasks and give off a certain aura that even someone with a drop of talent can sense. It depends on the creator's intent and power on what they are created for and how to expel them. Most are just used as messengers.

Think of a Sending as a servant without freewill, because they have to do whatever their master or mistress tell them to, unlike Scouts, which are a part of their creator.

Understand now? Good.

Picking up a random magazine while sitting on their actually-comfy chairs, I flinched in disgust. Now I know why Shin wasn't fired because of his color coordination. According to this, he wears the height of fashion.

Being around with no end in sight must do that to you.

I wonder.

A door, which up until it was slammed appeared to be a section of wall, opened to reveal a curly haired man in relatively tame clothing (considering) only to hit the wall opposing and swing back toward him, and with no way to dodge, hit him in the face. Hard.

Ini and I winced in union (the receptionist still cuddling the little pink traitor -said affectionately). Hurts. It really does. Not the unable-to-be-broken nose, the ruined dramatic entrance.

Swinging gently backwards, the door stopped just as it bumped again.

The expression on the man's face was a permanent twitch in four places (both eyebrows, and two on the head), his mouth set in an angry frown. He had an equally angry red mark across most of his front, which gained my sympathy.

Ignoring me entirely, or just not noticing the guest, he stopped over to the Sending-but-not and stared her down.

She didn't even blink.

"Jeana," he whisper-growled. "What have I told you about giving vague terms to the Workers?" He must've meant the menial Sendings.

"Not to, right?" She seemed pretty sure, if nonchalant. Ini was gone from her arms, cowering behind her chair, unwilling to face the man's anger along with her.

I expected her to bring out a nail file and use it, even if she showed no signs of doing so. It was just that type of scene.

"Yes," he dragged out the word. "Not to. Exactly. Glad you remember. Now, why did you when I told you **not to**?" He slammed his hands on the desk, making a loud noise.

I shuddered at the cold rage in his voice. Hope I never get on his bad side. He's worse than Iruka from Naruto when yelling at his favorite student.

Jeana just stared on, apparently unaffected. This, obviously, must happen often. "Because I didn't know anything specific." Her answer, simple and honest, only infuriated him more.

"Didn't know? Didn't know! How could you not know!" he shouted, breathing heavily. Gulping down a calming breath and straightening from his slumped position, the brown haired man continued on in a more reasonable tone, "Jeana, the Workers are gathering everyone with a name beginning with 'H' in the West room. The one containing the materials that needs to be sent back."

For the first time, the Sending-but-not-quite reacted, with a wince. "Oh. Sorry."

"You don't sound sincere," he scolded, anger draining as if it had never been there. Weird man, acting like the stereotypical girl in

PMS.

"Uh... sorry." She did a convincing impression of looking sheepish and apologetic.

The man beamed. "Well, no one's hurt, so you're forgiven!" He patted the now-bored looking Jeana on both shoulders, glasses fogged over slightly.

Must be her creator, from the reaction.

I couldn't help but snort. "You should make more obedient Sending, Mr. Inventor. That one's got you wrapped around its finger." I was feeling a bit bitter, having been reminded of something I'd rather forget during their little interaction.

"Who're you?" he asked, and I got a much better look at him. Classic disordered clothes (bright yellow, though, with blue stripes), silver-rimmed glasses glinting in the light, unkept hair hanging about shoulder length. Nothing unusual.

He looked me up and down, and then did a double take, mouth hanging open in a rather unbecoming manner.

I sweat dropped, but wasn't surprised. My form, entirely discolored expect for my eyes, was that of a dead soul, and he and I both knew that one couldn't travel around unless circumstances were a.) dire, or b.) the spirit was so out of the system it could bypass all laws. Which I couldn't, but why shouldn't I let him think that it was b., even if I was a c. (which didn't exist up until now)?

Maybe it was because this was the last form I'd ever been in, or that I missed my old life more than I'd ever admit, but I still appeared in the shape Shin had first met me in. I would've preferred the silvery spirit shape that most alive people had, but this worked better for now so I wasn't about to complain.

"Who are you?" the man demanded, overcoming his shock.

"She's-" Ini began, appearing beside me, floating by my shoulder with a companion air.

Jeana, being more than I'd first thought, interrupted. "They're the ones looking for whoever. Name starts with an 'H'." Then, wonder of wonders, she pulls out a nail file and concentrates on grooming her painted beauties.

I give her a small smile and nod of gratitude, though I don't think she noticed, and introduced myself, though I didn't use my real name, but instead the one that I remembered from my dream at Yayoi-chan's house. "You can call me Shidarui. I, er, am here looking for someone."

"Jericho," the man said swiftly, ignoring my offered hand. "Why're you like that?" He had the grace to blush as he realized what he'd just blurted out. "Uh, sorry. I'm like that."

"It's alright," I said, laughing it off. Ini nodded, humming along to a song in its head that I doubt existed in the real world.

"Yeah, right," Jericho muttered, still embarrassed. With a quick, longing glance at Jeana, he turned back to me and asked, if a little insincerely, "How may I help you?"

"Well, like I said, I'm looking for-" I was cut off as he put an arm around my shoulders and led me toward the door.

"Looking for someone? I know most everyone here; why don't we look together?" His attempts at flirtation were incredibly lacking, but I played along, knowing that as soon as the door closed he'd let go.

"Oh, really? Please, lead the way." Though I tried, I couldn't keep all the sarcasm out of my voice.

With another look at his creation, who was still filing her nails, Jericho led me through the door, which closed with another 'bang'.

He released me to slump against the door, sighing heavily and slouching down half way. "Jeana," he whined under his breath, longing for something that wasn't going to happen.

I crossed my arms, regarding him with much amusement. "Most perfect creation, huh? Seems like she wants nothing to do with you." It may sound mean, but he needed it. But then, maybe it also had something to do with how familiar their relationship was to me.

"She'll come around," he said half-heartedly. Seemed like he got that a lot.

"Just warning you, but you must get that a lot."

"Yeah." He met my eyes through his bangs. "Shidarui, right? Who are you looking for?"

"Someone named Hareru," I said, not wanting to mention Shin just yet. Even though Jeana hadn't reacted to his name, I had a feeling her 'destined' admirer would.

Jericho wrinkled his nose at the mention of Hareru's name. "Hareru? What'd you want with her?"

I pointed to Ini like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "I came to return her Scout."

"Oh." He straightened from the door, trying to maintain the dignity he hardly had. "I'll take you to her department, but nowhere beyond that." What he wasn't saying was,"I want nothing to do with her."

"OK," I agreed, shrugging. There was no one else.

Jericho gave a jerky nod. "Follow me." He started down the hall, positive I would follow.

And I did.

White, I once again thought, is never going to be a favorite of mine. The walls here, too, were blank, with no hint of yellow or cream at all.

Sterile. Impossible. White.

-0-0-0-0-

Imagine walking down a sterile, white corridor with the only color in sight (besides your own gray) a fashion-challenged man wearing eye-blinding yellow. Even the ceiling is an undiminished blank, no florescent lights but a soft glow that came from all four smooth surfaces.

As you walk, you notice no doors, no windows, nor anything else besides endless white walls. Looking down, there isn't so much as a smudge on the sterile-perfect floor.

Imagine, just as you build you breathe up a certain point to scream, the hallway suddenly ends and the walls are now cream, and the floor has an ugly but colorful carpet, and the only white is the ceiling, admitting a steady glow even here. This sudden explosion of hues fills your senses and momentarily stuns you.

Then, just as you're returning to normal, you notice there is noise, too, and still can't focus.

The man in yellow is standing and staring, too, but not at this new place. At you.

Regaining your self, you rehinge your law, place your eyes at a normal depth, and stare back. What would you say, then, embarrassed at showing surprise?

I don't know what you would do, but I know what I did.

I glared hard and asked, "Can you people see at all?"

Jericho continued to stare solemnly at me, and replied in a serious tone, "Better than you might think."

I met his dark eyes and held them defiantly. But there was something there that I didn't want to see, was unsettled to see there, and looked away.

This carpet might be ugly, but at least it isn't as bad as Shin's normal clothes. I shudder to think what his attire will be when I see him next. (Truthfully, I won't care. I'll be too busy either yelling or laughing hysterically in relief.)

"Should I adjust my Sight, then?" I looked up, trying to regain my mental balance.

Jericho snorted. "Do you need to?"

This time I met his eyes and didn't look away. "Not really."

He nodded, smiling ever-so-slightly. "I'll be going." He turned abruptly from the entrance and towards the never-ending white.

"Wait!" I grabbed his sleeve, surprising both of us with my speed. Why was I able to move that fast? It troubled me.

He didn't turn around. "This is Hareru's department. I said I'd bring you here, and I have. Now let me go." Anxiousness crept into his voice as Jericho jerked his arm, trying to loosen my hold. It didn't work.

He stopped struggling at my whispered question. "Why can't you go any farther?"

"What? I don't-" Jericho averted his eyes toward the ceiling, acting extravagant in his denial before I interrupted.

"Jericho." The sound of his name in that tone from my lips froze him in dread. "Why can't you go inside?"

Mutely, he used his free arm to point to a sign to his left, on the opposite side of the gateway. Reading, my grip slacked and allowed Jericho to pull away, though he was too worried about me being unresponsive then escaping.

Four simple, simple words that made me shudder. At a level beyond shock, I stared with blank blue eyes (my only color...).

**Fate Department**

**Shukumei Leading**

They may not have meant anything to anyone else, but to me...

Fate Department, Headed by Shukumei, the highest child of Fate, the one that...

Something deep, deep down, hidden under memories of reincarnation and behind self-enforced mental barriers finally broke out in what had been oh so long a time. I could feel it flooding me, changing me; my stance, my outlook on life, my almost everything.

It wasn't that big a change; nothing that hadn't been there from the time of my creation. I just preferred to do with out this, because it reminds me too much of the beginning, and I prefer the middle, thank you very much.

I don't know what it looked like to Jericho (only noticed his surprise and the glint of something -recognition, understanding? - return to his eyes) but I felt like I could take on anything.

"Shidarui," he addressed me, voice polite and filled with so many things that it was impossible to distinguish anything by it. "You wouldn't happen to be..."

He stared at me, unable to continue. I just stood there, completely relaxed and comfortable, waiting for him to finish his question.

Jeana's creator never had the chance.

"May I held you with something?" asked woman on the Fate Department's side. We turned as one to stare at the persnickety secretary that was sniffing down at us from her towering height of five feet two inches.

She looked like the old type of cartoon librarian that would kick you out for turning a page too loudly. Maybe that's an exaggeration, but still, she had the hair, face and expression, even if she was missing the glasses.

Pursing your lips like that can't be good for you. I told Jericho as much, in whispered tones, and all his did was grunt, though his cheeks did look a bit pink. From holding in laughter?

"Yes, you can," I replied to her question in the nicest tones possible. I wouldn't bother with her for longer than I had to.

"Well, what is it?" she asked impatiently, completely ignoring Jericho. It's as if he didn't even exist. Well, maybe to her he didn't. That's the way these things work, in cases not so rare.

"Where's Hareru?" I asked instead of leading this out any longer. Now I was getting impatient.

"Hareru?" The secretary wrinkled her nose, just as the man standing beside him had, upon hearing the name. "What do you want to see Hareru for?"

Closing my eyes and counting to ten, I snuck a quick glance at Jericho. He was still there, eyes trained longingly on the white corridor behind us. Jeana was waiting for him, he hoped, at least a little jealous.

My sympathy and irritation for him rose to the same level, but I outwardly kept my cool. He was being a shojo-manga undeceive nerd. It would be so easy for him to remedy the situation, but he had no self-confidence and little backbone when it came to his creation.

All this from knowing him less than an hour. (At least I think so. I don't know how much time passed, walking sterile halls.)

I opened my eyes and kept all attention on the one that would now lead me to Hareru, rude though she was.

"I just do, thank you. Will you take me or do I have to disrupt your work and look for Hareru myself?"

She was outraged at the assumption I could go off on my own, and immediately said,  
"Follow me," before turning sharply and stalking off. Yet another back I was expected to follow.

I'd better make this quite.

"Jericho." He turned to me, letting out a slight 'hmm' so I knew he was listening. "You're given a lot of advice on how to win Jeana over, I assume, from very differing sources." He nodded that this was so. "Well, here's mine: ask her what she expects of you. Don't try and make her jealous or some up with skeems that cause wacky high jinks, so matter how funny the story will turn out later." At that he gave me a look. "What I'm trying to say is not just be yourself and give it time, but confront Jeana first and get to know what _she_ wants before anything else. You should respect her feelings, or she'll just feel like a trophy doll."

Jericho stared openly, definitely not expecting that to come out of my mouth. I hadn't either, but was glad it did. He'll remember my words and think about them. At least he better.

"Alright... Shidarui." He pronounced my name in such a way that I knew he knew it was a fake.

I nodded, but gestured 'another time' and 'not here', which he understood. "I'll see you around, Jericho."

I waved and turned, crossing the line. He held up a hand goodbye.

There was no shock like I'd expected, just the feeling of waking through a wall of compressed air.

The secretary was waiting for me at a nearby cubical (Yes, cubical. They were all different colors.). I ignored her look and just followed.

Ini, who had been amazingly silent while in the presence of Jericho, began to hum. It annoyed the persnickety woman leading us, so I approved, though I do admit that the harsh glances she's throwing my way will get annoying after a while.

Well, I'll see Hareru in minutes and take my leave of her. Or her of me, gratefully. Whatever.

Smiling, I thought that Ini's music sounded nice.

-0-0-0-0-

A/N: That's it for the first part of chapter nine. I know, it's been more than a month and a half, but I won't make excuses.

If Kasumi seems to be having mood swings while in spirit form, well, you'll find out why next part of the chapter. And about her origins, the 'people that follow her through lives', Hareru and the Watcher, so look forward to it.

Next update will be filler, though, about what's happening while Kasumi is unconscious.

_Sister Shadow/Li_


	11. AN: So very sorry, but not a chapter

**Author's Note**: So very sorry! It has been quite a while since the last update, yes? Well, good news and back news.

Some of you (a lot of you), may have noticed that I'm getting off track in the later chapters. I know this. I don't know how to fix it without rewriting everything.

So I am. Rewriting everything, that is. I have the first chapter, half of the second chapter and just about all of SI-Kasumi's childhood planned.

I had Kasumi going to America, originally, and coming back just to see her mom die. That's just a bit crappy, now isn't it? So I changed it. I changed a lot of it.

Girl still gets reincarnated as Kasumi, with the vision magic and the past-life memories. Shin still exists, as does Li Mien and Mio. Yayoi and the others? Well, I think three OC are enough, for the moment...

And since this isn't just an Author's Note chapter that's annoying and gives you bad news (even though this is only half-bad, since you'll be seeing more of me, maybe even soon! gasp), here's a little something-something to tide you over:

**Broken Mirror Reflecting  
By: Sister Shadow / Li**

Disclaimer: I don't own any anime, only the plot ideas and original characters.

Summary: When the soul to be reincarnated as Tendo Kasumi is unable, another is offered the chance. She accepts, and as a result, possesses the memories of her past lives, most recently an American anime otaku. Knowing the events and people to come, she waits to see what the future brings while trying to forget something from her distant past.

-0-0--0-0-

Chapter One: Offer, Rebirth and Family

-0-0--0-0-

Part One: Destination

-0-0-0-0-

In what would be called a ghost town, a caved-in old warehouse sat nearly submerged in the polluted river that had once made this place prosper. A preserved skeleton could be found there, the body of a young woman in her early twenties. She was dead, yes, but still there and willing to chat, if you wanted. If one was attune to the spiritual plane, that is. 

Her current form held no gender, or had any descriptive features, and no color. It was only the vaguest outline of human form, her body, only unique in the place where one would have eyes: they were a bright, brilliant blue.

She remembered not how her living self had come to be here, or her name or past before death. All she could bring to mind was the endlessness of her time in the warehouse and something called the 'Internet' and computers. It must have been very important to who she was before for her to remember now.

The spirit knew no time, only this place. She had seen this place weather many storms, only to be claimed by the river that had once made this area a port of call. No one had come, living or otherwise, for her body or her soul. But there was one thing, er, person, who appeared at random times to stare, poke and prod at her using fingers, sticks and speech without much of a reaction. Having no memory of human socialization, she felt the best thing to do was ignore him, which didn't work very well. He didn't go away and stay gone, but kept coming back.

Like now, for example.

With a loud bang and the dramatic addition of illusion-smoke and imagined neon lights in varying shapes he announced his arrival. The additions immediately disappeared after a few moments for the effect to take place. Holding them up more, she assumed, would tax him. (Where'd that thought come from?)

Instead of his usual casual smirk, he wore a half-grim, half-grinning expression. Unlike her, he was in full, fluorescent color. Pale hair that brushed his shoulders, without a strand out of place, framed his face and bright eyes of undeterminable color. This dress, though, threw the whole attractiveness of his features off; yellow just did not go with fuchsia.

"I've talked to some friends of mine, sister, and they have an offer for you that you can't refuse," stated the spirit. He had yet to give his name.

Maybe his curiosity was rubbing off on her, but she just couldn't resist, though skeptical. "What kind of offer?"

The spirit's grin widened as he regarded her, as if sharing a private joke with himself mentally. "The kind of deal that will give you both your body and your memories back."

"Mine is unusable," she pointed out the obvious, not trusting him in the least. "Unless your 'friends' have the power to wake the dead or turn back time, I am stuck in this state until someone comes for me."

The multicolored man regarded her for a moment, face blank, before breaking out into a wide grin. "I knew you were just what we need!"

She stared at him as if he were insane, which his outfit and attitude agreed with. He had the decency to look a tad sheepish. "Er, anyway. My friends can't change what happens here, but they can give you a new start!"

"Reincarnation? And I would remember…" The offer was tempting, but not something she really wanted. "No, thank you. I'd rather wait for my Messenger, all the same."

He frowned at the unisex spirit, brows furrowed and disappointment evident in his eyes. "Haven't you realized? I am your messenger."

"What?" She met his gaze, searching for any sign of deception. There was none. "Then why… Why have I been here all this time?!"

His expression changed into an almost blank mask; answering her questions was business. "We have been waiting for an opening for you. This offer is the first one we know you'd like."

"Oh, so… I have to be reincarnated, no matter what?" she asked, already resigning herself to the answer, which she only wanted to confirm her thoughts.

"I'm afraid so." His voice held a sincere apology. Why was he sad for her?

"How long would I have to wait for another offer?" Spirits can touch inanimate objects; she leaned against a half-submerged wall of the warehouse, knees near her chin.

Her face was turned away; she only heard his answer. "Estimated, maybe another few decades or so."

"Then I accept this offer, whatever it is." Determinations shone in her blue-eyes-things. She wasn't going to be stuck here any longer.

Her messenger grinned and said, "Good." He clutched her shoulder in a friendly manner, grip surprisingly solid. "Now, here's the deal..."

He explained to her that a body in another dimension needed a host spirit since the one for it had been captured and therefore unable. This person, a Japanese female to have two sisters, was an important member of the Larger Plan, which would otherwise destroy their universe if she simply didn't exist. Wherever this was, she thought, I will be glad to be doing something useful.

"I just hope I may help in this other world you have described to me," she admitted, standing next to him.

"Oh, you will," the astral figure said, smiling a mysterious smile. "All you need now is to go there. Your new identity is waiting."

He gripped her arm tightly, and where he held burned. After a near eternity without pain, the spirit only felt a mild sense of curiosity at the burning sensation. While not in a corporal form, she felt her body twisting and reshaping itself into something else, something much smaller and compressed.

Finally, it stopped, and she realized she could no longer move. She had no arms or legs, torso or even a head. All of her was now a compact round gem held in her Messenger's hands.

"Sorry about that," he apologized. "It's the only way for you to travel."

'I'm alright,' she said, though she didn't know how. Telepathy or something else?

He blinked in surprise. "Learning already. Yes, you are what we need…"

'What do you mean?' she asked, curious at why he repeated himself.

"Nothing, never mind. Just relax, now. It'll all be over soon…"

'Ah…"

She was floating, out of his hand, light as a bubble in the wind. She was a bubble in the wind, all round and clear and sparkly. Blue, though, reflected off her dome, not rainbow colors.

"Remember, even in chaos there is order. Have fun in Nerima, Tendo Kasumi-san." He called up after her, his familiar smirk back in place.

Her last sight was of the mangled body of her former identity. Then she dreamed of comforting warmth.

-0-0-0-0-

Let me tell you, readers, that it is never a good decision to trust someone so annoying when they offer change out of the blue. Sure, I remember everything from my life, and the one before that... and the one before that... and the one before that (you get the idea), but I also felt everything all at once. I hardly remember what happened after that.

When I came to, though, it was to what can only be called the 'light at the end of the tunnel'. But in reality, Tendo Kasumi's body was just being born. I, unsurprisingly, had the overwhelming urge to cry, and did so. My new mother, Tendo Soun's wife, held me after the midwife was done checking the baby body over. I was starting to regret agreeing to this even more.

How was I, an only child, going to handle two sisters and a depressed father when oka-sama (I decided to call her that for no apparent reason) died? I couldn't even take proper care of my father's family's collection of pets, even though they depended on me only for food. And another mother?

I missed mine. And my father. And my family. They were dead, though, and had been for a long time. They evacuated the town as any sane person would. I only stayed behind to find my wayward best friends, like-siblings who were more trouble than they were worth. They're dead, too. Everyone was. I wonder how much time really passed while I was stuck there haunting the place my body lay?

And I'm thinking about things I shouldn't be. Let me guess: you don't know what the heck I'm talking about.

I'm angry, annoyed, confused, sleepy, and ranting at people who did nothing but join me in my new adventure. I'll apologize when I feel better.

It was nice being cooed over for a change. Mother was smiling tiredly and holding my body tenderly. Soun was crying, ranting on about how lucky he was to have such a beautiful wife and child, though I didn't know that until later. And here I thought he'd only turned crybaby after the death of his beloved.

"What a beautiful girl she'll grow up to be," commented my mother in Japanese. Which I didn't understand. It was just a jumble of sound to my ears, but I knew she was talking about me.

"Our little heiress," cooed my father. He was immediately backhanded by his wife. I guess aggression ran in the Tendo females, all except me. I really don't know how I'm going to have the innocence and obliviousness that series Kasumi had.

Who or what captured her spirit anyway. And why?

"Our little princess," father corrected himself. Oka-sama smiled in approval. I personally wondered when they would begin to spoil me, and if my new self would like it.

Sure, I would always be the core me, but with my child's mind my personality would develop according to the environment in which I was raised. Kind of like planting seeds, (what you're born with) and nurturing them until they become whatever they do. At least I'm flexible and can adapt easily. I can make Soun and oka-sama's first experience with a child a bit easier, too.

Did I mention I'm more like Nabiki than Kasumi? Kami help Nerima. I may turn the place upside-down even before Ranma and the rest arrive.

I was so tired and content in my mother's arms, I fell asleep right then and there. I was set for the moment.

-0-0-0-0-

**Author's Notes Continued**: And that, my friends, is half of Part One of Chapter One.

Broken Mirror Reflecting will continue in the new version. First posting should be up by the end of November, hopefully.

Oh, and, to all reviewers: Thank you very much! Y'all prompted me to start this again, since originally I was just going to give up and leave it like it was.

Ja ne 'til the new one,  
_SS/Li_


End file.
